O. Henry

O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter, was born in North Carolina in 1862 and died in New York in 1910. A master of the American short story, he is ranked alongside Chekhov and Maupassant as one of the world's three great short-story writers. His works are mostly drawn from everyday city life, with characters ranging from ordinary citizens to the poor and humble. His language is humorous and light, and he is known for ending stories with unexpected twists, a technique widely called the "O. Henry ending." His representative works include The Gift of the Magi and The Last Leaf, and he is commonly classified under foreign literature, classic works, and world classics. This site carries twenty-six of his works, including several short-story collections and English-language editions.