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O. Henry’s Followers (1,859)

O. Henry

Born

in Greensboro, North Carolina, The United States

September 11, 1862

Died

June 05, 1910

Genre

Short Stories, Humor, Mystery & Thrillers

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Such volumes as Cabbages and Kings (1904) and The Four Million (1906) collect short stories, noted for their often surprising endings, of American writer William Sydney Porter, who used the pen name O. Henry.

His biography shows where he found inspiration for his characters. His era produced their voices and his language.

Mother of three-year-old Porter died from tuberculosis. He left school at fifteen years of age and worked for five years in drugstore of his uncle and then for two years at a Texas sheep ranch.

In 1884, he went to Austin, where he worked in a real estate office and a church choir and spent four years as a draftsman in the general land office. His wife and firstborn died, but daughter Margaret survived him.

He failed ...more

Combine Editions
O. Henry’s books

Average rating: 4.07 · 183,948 ratings · 9,644 reviews · 2,910 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Gift of the Magi 4.11 avg rating — 101,070 ratings — published 1905 — 593 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Stories by O. Henry, Victoria Blake (Introduction) 4.17 avg rating — 17,694 ratings — published 1922 — 97 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Last Leaf by O. Henry, Raymond Harris (Editor), Walter Pauk (Editor) 4.32 avg rating — 6,965 ratings — published 1907 — 92 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Ransom of Red Chief 4.15 avg rating — 6,755 ratings — published 1907 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Gift of the Magi and Other Short Stories by O. Henry, Shane Weller (Editor) 4.12 avg rating — 6,278 ratings — published 1904 — 141 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Best Short Stories of O. Henry by O. Henry, Bennett Cerf (Editor), Van H. Cartmell (Editor) 4.25 avg rating — 4,378 ratings — published 1945 — 28 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Works of O. Henry by O. Henry, Harry Hansen (Foreword by) 4.33 avg rating — 1,981 ratings — published 1937 — 46 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cabbages and Kings 3.93 avg rating — 1,523 ratings — published 1904 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	After Twenty Years 3.95 avg rating — 1,150 ratings — published 1973 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Four Million 4.03 avg rating — 900 ratings — published 1906 — 539 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Polls

December 2015 Short Story Poll

1843, The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, 31 pages

23 votes, 18.5%

1905, The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, 32 pages

18 votes, 14.5%

1985, The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, 32 pages

17 votes, 13.7%

1979 The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter, 126 pages

14 votes, 11.3%

1835, The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, 48 pages

12 votes, 9.7%

1936, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Ernest Hemingway, 72 pages

12 votes, 9.7%

1865, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Nikolai Leskov, 88 pages

9 votes, 7.3%

1834, The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin, 52 pages

8 votes, 6.5%

1983, Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal, 98 pages

5 votes, 4.0%

1897, Liza of Lambeth by W. Somerset Maugham, 128 pages

5 votes, 4.0%

1955, Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo, 128 pages

1 vote, 0.8%

124 total votes

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