A Bird of Bagdad
A Blackjack Bargainer
A Call Loan
A Chaparral Christmas Gift
A Chaparral Prince
A Comedy in Rubber
A Cosmopolite in a Cafe
A Departmental Case
A Double-Dyed Deceiver
A Fog in Santone
A Harlem Tragedy
A Lickpenny Lover
A Little Local Colour
A Little Talk About Mobs
A Matter Of Mean Elevation
A Newspaper Story
A Poor Rule
A Sacrifice Hit
A Technical Error
After Twenty Years
An Afternoon Miracle
Best-Seller
Blind Man's Holiday
Buried Treasure
Calloway's Code
Christmas By Injunction
Confessions Of A Humorist
Cupid A La Carte
Georgia's Ruling
He Also Serves
Hearts And Crosses
Hearts And Hands
Hygeia At The Solito
Madame Bo-peep, Of The Ranches
No Story
One Dollar's Worth
Out Of Nazareth
Round The Circle
Rus In Urbe
Schools And Schools
Seats Of The Haughty
Sociology In Serge And Straw
Suite Homes And Their Romance
The Caballero's Way
The Cactus
The Coming-Out of Maggie
The Detective Detector
The Dog And The Playlet
The Gift of the Magi
The Handbook Of Hymen
The Head-hunter
The Hiding Of Black Bill
The Higher Abdication
The Higher Pragmatism
The Hypotheses Of Failure
The Indian Summer Of Dry Valley Johnson
The Last Leaf
The Marry Month Of May
The Missing Chord
The Moment Of Victory
The Pimienta Pancakes
The Princess And The Puma
The Prisoner of Zembla
The Proem
The Purple Dress
The Ransom Of Mack
The Ransom of Red Chief
The Rathskeller and the Rose
The Red Roses Of Tonia
The Reformation Of Calliope
The Remnants of the Code
The Roads We Take
The Robe of Peace
The Romance of a Busy Broker
The Rose Of Dixie
The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highball
The Rubber Plant's Story
The Shamrock and the Palm
The Shocks of Doom
The Skylight Room
The Sleuths
The Snow Man
The Social Triangle
The Song And The Sergeant
The Sparrows In Madison Square
The Sphinx Apple
The Tale of a Tainted Tenner
The Theory And The Hound
The Thing's the Play
The Third Ingredient
The Trimmed Lamp
The Unknown Quantity
The Unprofitable Servant
The Venturers
The Vitagraphoscope
The Voice of the City
The Whirligig Of Life
The World And The Door
Thimble, Thimble
Tictocq
To Him Who Waits
Tobin's Palm
Tommy's Burglar
Tracked to Doom
Transformation of Martin Burney
Transients in Arcadia
Two Recalls
Two Renegades
Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen
Ulysses and the Dogman
Vanity and Some Sables
What You Want
While the Auto Waits
Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking
Witches' Loaves
O.Henry was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and was an avid reader as a child. His mother died of tuberculosis when he was three years old. In 1879 he began working as a pharmacist. When he developed a persistent cough he traved to Texas in the spring of 1882 hoping the dryer air would offer some relief. In 1884, after his health improved, he moved to Austin, Texas where he wored as a pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller and journalist. It was in Austin that he began to write.
His stint at the bank came back to haunt him when he was later arrested on charges of embezzelment while living in Houston, Texas. He fled to New Orleans before his trial and eventually to Honduras where he coined the term "banana republic." When his wife fell ill, he returned to the United States, after she died he surrendered to the court, was found guilty of embezzelment in February of 1898 and was sentenced to five years in jain. He published fourteen stories under different pen names while in prison and started to gain some faime as O. Henry. He was released after three years on good behavior and 1902 started his most prolific stretch as a writer.
Today, O. Henry's stories are known for the wit, wordplay, charm and clever endings. His most famous stories are The Gift of the Magi and The Ransom of Red Chief