41 Stories
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- Create Date：2021-09-07 05:53:18
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：O. Henry
- ISBN：0451530535
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Reviews
Jess McDonald
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Although there are a few gems in this collection， the cumulative effect of the same formula over 41 stories comes across as cynical。 Racist language throughout。
Maryo
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Love O。Henry
Pamela Parson
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Quarantine ReadingIf you love words you'll love this collection of short stories and if you are like me you might need to look up more than a few！ Delightfully funny with twists and turns and quirky characters。 It was an excellent way to break from Covid-19 news overload。 Quarantine ReadingIf you love words you'll love this collection of short stories and if you are like me you might need to look up more than a few！ Delightfully funny with twists and turns and quirky characters。 It was an excellent way to break from Covid-19 news overload。 。。。more
Anna-Maria Popova
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I've never doubted this book would be an interesting and involving read。 O。Henry is the best author of short stories with plot twists。 I've never doubted this book would be an interesting and involving read。 O。Henry is the best author of short stories with plot twists。 。。。more
Orlando Martin
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Some good， some bad， some boring。
Christy
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Maybe this is harsh but there are really like 10 stories here。 the rest are just more versions of the same。
Collin
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It’s just。。。 it’s just so racist， man。。。
Dan Lewis
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These stories are brilliant。 There's an important caveat that these were still racist times， and some of that leaks into the dialogue。 Most of the time it could be polished out of the story without losing much of value。 Like Linus with the Russian surnames， I try to bleep over it。 But if it bothers you， know you will find it。 I don't think his Southerners and foreigners are mean spirited caricatures， most of the time。 They seem drawn to life。Many patterns emerge from reading forty stories by the These stories are brilliant。 There's an important caveat that these were still racist times， and some of that leaks into the dialogue。 Most of the time it could be polished out of the story without losing much of value。 Like Linus with the Russian surnames， I try to bleep over it。 But if it bothers you， know you will find it。 I don't think his Southerners and foreigners are mean spirited caricatures， most of the time。 They seem drawn to life。Many patterns emerge from reading forty stories by the same author， even across genres and settings。 There are a lot of stories within framing stories。 Unreliable narrators。 The all-important ironic endings。 Earnest young men seeking their fortunes， or love， or dreams。In the making， there is a great ear for the vernacular。 His dialogue has so much character。 The setting almost always takes a back seat to the narrative， although the narrators sometimes love the songs of their own voices。 They also often malapropize and ensuffix the English language and its classics， with hilarious results。Overall， these stories are just fun and almost always funny。 They are subversive， and they all pay off within ten pages， some with entirely unforgettable situations and images。I don't know if I would read this straight through again。 I imagine myself picking out a story to suit my mood。 But I'd happily return to these and look for more。 。。。more
Rob
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Great writer， but the stories do follow a repetitive pattern， and that makes it less enjoyable to read them all together in an anthology。 I read the first 5 of so。
Philip Jade Dizon
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How great stories are there in these packed and creative deliverance by the great O。 Henry， always gives enough intro and changing ending makes readers love him more。
Irina
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This is my first acquaintance with the famous O。Henry and what surprised me most was how modern these stories written more than a century ago， feel。 The problems his characters are going through， the choices they make， the issues they deal with - all could be applied to the modern times。 The style seems to be outdated， but I have a hunch it was done on purpose for it comes off so funny。 Take for example this declaration of one of the characters to another: “Mrs。Brown。。。 I’m going to extend my fe This is my first acquaintance with the famous O。Henry and what surprised me most was how modern these stories written more than a century ago， feel。 The problems his characters are going through， the choices they make， the issues they deal with - all could be applied to the modern times。 The style seems to be outdated， but I have a hunch it was done on purpose for it comes off so funny。 Take for example this declaration of one of the characters to another: “Mrs。Brown。。。 I’m going to extend my feet alternately， one after the other， in such a manner and direction that this tenement will recede from me in the quickest possible time。” O。Henry was prolific， no doubt about it though after a while each story start to resemble the next in that they all have an ironic twist at end。 But if you read a just few at a time， they are brilliant。 。。。more
P。S。 Winn
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31 stories you are going to love。 The author has so many stories and such great twists and turns。 This is a keeper。
Leticia
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Most of the stories are amazing， with surprise and honor and characters who can be seen。
Rashmi
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This book was a nice collection of touching short stories by O。 Henry。 Although all of the stories were interesting， the pattern of the plot became a bit repetitive after some time。 Not that the plots themselves were predictable--but rather， the fact that there would be an ironic twist at the end made the collection as a whole slightly tedious after a while。 I would recommend reading the book in sections， interspersed with other reading in between， to break up the pattern and better appreciate t This book was a nice collection of touching short stories by O。 Henry。 Although all of the stories were interesting， the pattern of the plot became a bit repetitive after some time。 Not that the plots themselves were predictable--but rather， the fact that there would be an ironic twist at the end made the collection as a whole slightly tedious after a while。 I would recommend reading the book in sections， interspersed with other reading in between， to break up the pattern and better appreciate the poignancy of the stories。 。。。more
MH
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O。 Henry's New York stories about the urban poor， like the famous "The Gift of the Magi，" are fantastic - moving and funny and surprising。 Unfortunately， they only make up about a fourth of this edition， with half going to Westerns and his stories of the South （which are hit and miss） and the last quarter going to his conman and swindler stories， which are densely written in an 'uneducated man trying to talk fancy' voice and are painfully unfunny and just a lot of work to get through。 O。 Henry's New York stories about the urban poor， like the famous "The Gift of the Magi，" are fantastic - moving and funny and surprising。 Unfortunately， they only make up about a fourth of this edition， with half going to Westerns and his stories of the South （which are hit and miss） and the last quarter going to his conman and swindler stories， which are densely written in an 'uneducated man trying to talk fancy' voice and are painfully unfunny and just a lot of work to get through。 。。。more
Dennis Raffaelli
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Maybe it was the times， but the many ethnic slurs turned me off。Some of the stories had interesting twists， but I thought some of them were a little dull。
Stephen Williams
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The less said the better。One star。
Elisheva Rina
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Every story is witty and interesting。 Some are sad， some are humorous， and some made me think。
Jason
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I'd only ever read the Gift of the Magi previously， so it was great treat to discover all of these other wonderful stories。 I'd only ever read the Gift of the Magi previously， so it was great treat to discover all of these other wonderful stories。 。。。more
Aubren
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I greatly enjoyed O。 Henry's cleverly written stories。 They are filled with sarcasm and wit and always include an unforeseen twist at the end。 I am sure there are many examples of this that I unfortunately missed because I don't know my history and am unfamiliar with the culture of O。Henry's time。 I would highly recommend this book。 I greatly enjoyed O。 Henry's cleverly written stories。 They are filled with sarcasm and wit and always include an unforeseen twist at the end。 I am sure there are many examples of this that I unfortunately missed because I don't know my history and am unfamiliar with the culture of O。Henry's time。 I would highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Sherril
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OH O Henry！！！One of the best things about being in a good book club （and there are many） is that you end up reading books that you may otherwise， never have picked up 。 We read， several years ago， 41 Stories by O。 Henry。 I am a bit ashamed to admit that I do not recall ever reading any of his works。 Perhaps he came up in High School English， but considering how much I enjoyed this book， I think I would have remembered。O。 Henry was a pseudonym。 I did not know this。 His real name was William Sydne OH O Henry！！！One of the best things about being in a good book club （and there are many） is that you end up reading books that you may otherwise， never have picked up 。 We read， several years ago， 41 Stories by O。 Henry。 I am a bit ashamed to admit that I do not recall ever reading any of his works。 Perhaps he came up in High School English， but considering how much I enjoyed this book， I think I would have remembered。O。 Henry was a pseudonym。 I did not know this。 His real name was William Sydney Porter and he had a most unconventional and， unfortunately， short， life （died at age 47）。 He did not go to college， but it is said that he read voraciously as a child。 His life， including the wide variety of jobs he held， reads like a novel。 He was a pharmacist （or pharmacist assistant， depending on your source）， a sheep rancher， a book-keeper， a draftsman， a columnist， a reporter and cartoonist for a newspaper， and finally a bank teller。 As such， he was indicted （or not， again， depending on the source） for the alleged embezzlement of bank funds （it seems more likely that it was mismanagement of funds rather than embezzlement）。 He was to stand trial， but he fled to New Orleans and then Honduras。 Meanwhile he married a woman in spite of her condition， having tuberculosis。 They eloped in July 1887 and she died of TB in July 1897， which brought him out of hiding。 In the ten years they were married， they had a son in 1888， who died hours after birth， and then a daughter in September 1889。 After his wife's death in July， 1897， he was sentenced to five years in jail， It was during his time in prison that he began to write his short stories and had many stories published under pseudonyms （to keep the fact of his imprisonment from publishers and readers）。 The pseudonym that stuck was "O。 Henry"。 On July 24， 1901， O。 Henry was released from jail after only three years， for good behavior。 In 1902 he moved to New York City and proceeded to write 381 short stories in the following 8 years。 He remarried in 1907。 By 1908 his health was deteriorating as he had begun to drink heavily。 His 2nd wife left him in 1909 and he died broke on June 5 1910 of cirrhosis of the liver， as well as other ailments。 O。 Henry's life story reads like the lyrics of an an old time country music song。 What stands out for me is O。 Henry's use of language， his turns of phrase and his vocabulary I found myself looking up many words， Kindle making it so easy， only to find that some of them appeared to be made up; I am still not sure about "propenquitious"！ Not only is his overall vocabulary noteworthy but so are the names he gives his characters。 I have to wonder where or how he came up with them。 Perhaps they were common in his day， the late 1800's and early 1900's， or maybe he just made them up。 For example， Ikey Snigglefritz is the protagonist in the story The Social Triangle。 Who could not love this name？ I looked it up online and the Urban Dictionary defined it this way: " A snigglefritz is a pink sock which is placed over an erect male sexual organ to keep it warm in times of severe cold"。 I think it quite possible that O。 Henry knew what he was doing giving his characters these quaint， whimsical， and yes， naughty names。 O。 Henry is well known for his famous "twist" endings。 It seemed to me that he played out his stories within his own mind， in much the same way as he played with language itself。 Consequently， the endings of many of his stories are not at all what you would expect and often are， in a manner of speaking， "twisted"。 OH！ O。 Henry！O。 Henry's use of language， writing style and the ways that he tells tales are completely individualistic， uniquely his own。I loved that so many of the stories take place in New York City， often in the Lower East Side。 I was able to "hear" the voices of his characters with their Irish， German or Italian accents。 I could "see" these stories taking place on Delancey or Hester Street （The Social Triangle） and I always saw them in Black & White。Here are some examples of delicious language that only O。 Henry could create:flibbertigibbet （The Last Leaf）Ikey Snigglefritz （The Social Triangle）execrable （ Schools and Schools）Cortlandt Van Duychink （The Social Triangle）Hotel Lotus （Transients in Arcadia）propinquitous （Hostages to Momus）celeritous （Hostages to Momus）Caligula Polk （Hostages to Momus） cake-walk （Hostages to Momus） "If you'd take his remarks and set 'em to music， and then take the music away from 'em， they'd sound exactly like one of George Cohan's songs。" （Best-Seller）"I rather like that mulberry-leaf tunic effect， dear; but of course the real fig goods are not to be had over there。。。I think the caterpillar-holes have made your dress open a little in the back" （Schools and Schools）"She thrusts hurriedly into your hand an extremely hot buttered roll， flashes out a tiny pair of scissors， snips off the second button of your overcoat， meaningly ejaculated the one word， "parrallelogram！" and swiftly flies down a cross street。。。" （The Green Door）。 "and tossed the feathery ball of conversation" （Transients in Arcadia） "After Murkison left us me and Andy sat a while pre-pondering over our silent meditations and heresies of reason。 In our idle hours we always improved our higher selves by ratiocination and mental thought"。 （Shearing the Wolf） "You have a kind nucleus at the interior of your exterior after all" （Shearing the Wolf） "Quite unseldom I have seen fit to impugn your molars when you have been chewing the rag with me about your conscientious way of doing business" （Shearing the Wolf） "He was waked up in a yellow pine hotel by the noise of flowers and the smell of birds" （Hostages to Momus） "Caligula sat on the back of his neck on the porch and studied a newspaper， which was unusual to a man who despised print。" （Hostages to Momus）"supply of the most gratifying and efficient lines of grub that money could buy。 I always was an admirer of viands in their most palliative and revised stages。 Hog and hominy are not only inartistic to my stomach， but they give indigestion to my moral sentiments。" （Hostages to Momus） _____________________________________________ I was interested to know who the other writers were at the turn of the century， when O。 Henry wrote。The majority of the writers mentioned were unknown to me。 Here's the list of those I recognized:Stephen CraneEmily DickinsonL。 Frank BaumMary JohnsonJack LondonFrank NorrisEdith WhartonUpton SinclairWinston ChurchellSusan B。 AnthonyW。E。B。 Du BoisSamuel Hopkins AdamsIda TarbellWhat was difficult to read was the free and easy use of the term， "nigger"， and other references to the racist attitudes of the day。 I had taken note of the same thing in F。 Scott Fitzgerald's， The Great Gatsby in terms of both the racist and anti-Semitic language used without second thought。 Not that these two authors were "free thinkers" when it came to racism and prejudice， but I wonder if even those who were free thinkers also used this kind of language because it was so much a part of the culture that no one even considered it。 But surely there must have been some who saw it for What occurred to me most in reading O。 Henry's stories was how much humor there was and how much enjoyment I received in reading them。 How very captivating it was to be in the presence of an author who knew the art of story-telling and told them in what could be called， "O。 Henrian Language"！ 。。。more
Jason Goodman
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As most people， I am familiar with O'Henry for all of the wrong reasons and stories， naturally his old standards are in here， the hair cut， and the leaf paint job， but that is where the line is drawn。 I do not feel， after reading 41 of his stories， that these are necessarily his best。 This man has a well so deep filled with sweet puns and it never runs dry， his reference to the issues of his day are incredible， he must have read several newspaper's every morning before getting out of bed。 He pul As most people， I am familiar with O'Henry for all of the wrong reasons and stories， naturally his old standards are in here， the hair cut， and the leaf paint job， but that is where the line is drawn。 I do not feel， after reading 41 of his stories， that these are necessarily his best。 This man has a well so deep filled with sweet puns and it never runs dry， his reference to the issues of his day are incredible， he must have read several newspaper's every morning before getting out of bed。 He pulls from so many different places and people to create a seamless laugh line throughout the entire book。 It pays to be a student of America and her history to 'get' all of the asides， I doubt if to many new members of our society would understand why we fell off our chair laughing while reading this book， they would look at the paragraph and say something like "loco" then put the book back and sneak out of the room。 You have to know a lot about America and the time frame O'Henry worked in to truly appreciate this book。 I recommend reading this one alone， no planes or trains， you may spray someone with spittle！ 。。。more
Jen Dee
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A collection of wonderful， classic short stories， most with the classic O。 Henry twist。 I recommend it。
Rachel
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We sell this in the O。 Henry museum gift shop- one of the better collections of O。 Henry's work， definitely recommend it！ We sell this in the O。 Henry museum gift shop- one of the better collections of O。 Henry's work， definitely recommend it！ 。。。more
Ernest
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I agree with Mr Burton Raffel who writes in the Introduction: "There are good stories and bad ones。。。"The story I like best is "The Lotus and the Bottle"。 It reminds me of Maugham whom I like a lot。On the other hand， "Hostages to Momus" is so bad that I could not finish。In general， the shorter the story， the better it is。 "Hostages to Momus"is the longest and is such a drag。"Conscience in Art" and "Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet" are also very clever and interesting。 I agree with Mr Burton Raffel who writes in the Introduction: "There are good stories and bad ones。。。"The story I like best is "The Lotus and the Bottle"。 It reminds me of Maugham whom I like a lot。On the other hand， "Hostages to Momus" is so bad that I could not finish。In general， the shorter the story， the better it is。 "Hostages to Momus"is the longest and is such a drag。"Conscience in Art" and "Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet" are also very clever and interesting。 。。。more
Devi
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Like most story collections there were ones I really liked to ones that I didn't care for。 Overall a good collection。 Like most story collections there were ones I really liked to ones that I didn't care for。 Overall a good collection。 。。。more
Michael
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The narrative powers， the ear for flowing yet unforgettable dialogues， and the ability to conjure up dense and mysterious atmospheres with the slightest touches， are second to none。Note: 41 Stories is a lot， don't feel that you have to read them all at once！ I certainly didn't and still have a few to catch up with。 The narrative powers， the ear for flowing yet unforgettable dialogues， and the ability to conjure up dense and mysterious atmospheres with the slightest touches， are second to none。Note: 41 Stories is a lot， don't feel that you have to read them all at once！ I certainly didn't and still have a few to catch up with。 。。。more
Abby
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O。 Henry is one of the few authors of short stories that I can really get into。 His irony， dry sense of humor， and surprise endings never fail to suck me into his world of cowboys， tropics， and life in the big city。
Ghoover318
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Made me want to read more of his work。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=41 Stories
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=41 Stories&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,41 Stories&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0