Meet the Author
O. Henry
American · 1862–1910 · Short story writer
The master of the last-line twist, who found tenderness in the crowds of everyday America.
5 StoryBites Editions5 Short stories
Why read O. Henry?
O. Henry builds small, warm stories about clerks, tramps, and lovers, then flips them with an ending you never see coming. Under the clever twists sits real affection for ordinary people scraping by. His plots are the blueprint for the surprise ending as we know it.
A life in six dates
- 1862Born William Sydney Porter in Greensboro, North Carolina
- 1898Imprisoned for embezzlement, begins writing stories
- 1905Publishes The Gift of the Magi
- 1906Story collection The Four Million appears
- 1910Dies in New York City
Themes across the collection
The StoryBites Editions
Context that actually matters
New York CityIts everyday strivers became his great subject, the 'four million' he championed.
The twist endingHe popularized the ironic reversal that still defines the form.
Magazine fictionHe wrote fast for a mass audience, sharpening the tight, punchy modern story.