Short Fiction in English

O. Henry

originalC2genreShort storiesvibeTenderLoveSacrificeaudioUSUK

A large collection of short stories about ordinary people in New York and elsewhere, each built to end on a surprise. You can pick any story and read it in a few minutes.

This is a collection, not a novel, so there is no single plot to follow: each story is complete in a few pages. Most are built the same way. They begin with a funny, chatty narrator, set up a small situation, and finish with a turn that changes how you read everything before it. Many take place in New York, which O. Henry liked to call Bagdad-on-the-Subway, while others take place in Texas and Latin America. The language is full of slang, jokes and showy long words, and the narrator often talks directly to the reader.

What kind of book“Short Fiction” is

Versions of “Short Fiction” in English: C2

Same book, adapted to a level you can read without stopping

levelA1–A2B1–B2C1–C2pagesaudiobook

Vocabulary by level

A1 61%
A2 15%
B1 8%
B2 6%
not in dictionary 5%

A sample from “Short Fiction” in English

One passage, the way each version writes it.

Tap any word — we will show the translation

Original · C2332 words

Lord Oakhurst lay dying in the oak chamber in the eastern wing of Oakhurst Castle. Through the open window in the calm of the summer evening, came the sweet fragrance of the early violets and budding trees, and to the dying man it seemed as if earth’s loveliness and beauty were never so apparent as on this bright June day, his last day of life.

His young wife, whom he loved with a devotion and strength that the presence of the king of terrors himself could not alter, moved about the apartment, weeping and sorrowful, sometimes arranging the sick man’s pillow and inquiring of him in low, mournful tones if anything could be done to give him comfort, and again, with stifled sobs, eating some chocolate caramels which she carried in the pocket of her apron. The servants went to and fro with that quiet and subdued tread which prevails in a house where death is an expected guest, and even the crash of broken china and shivered glass, which announced their approach, seemed to fall upon the ear with less violence and sound than usual.

Lord Oakhurst was thinking of days gone by, when he wooed and won his beautiful young wife, who was then but a charming and innocent girl. How clearly and minutely those scenes rose up at the call of his memory. He seemed to be standing once more beneath the old chestnut grove where they had plighted their troth in the twilight under the stars; while the rare fragrance of the June roses and the smell of supper came gently by on the breeze. There he had told her his love; how that his whole happiness and future joy lay in the hope that he might win her for a bride; that if she would trust her future to his care the devotedness of his lifetime should be hers, and his only thought would be to make her life one long day of sunshine and peanut candy.

The same passage at different levelsContinue in the reader

The original language of “Short Fiction” and what it gives you

How hard the language is C2

The English is lively and sometimes tricky. The collection is huge, about 890,000 words with nearly 34,000 different word forms, and 61% of the words are A1 plus 15% A2. The average sentence is 15.3 words, which is not long, but 6% of the words are beyond the 5,000 most frequent and 5% are not in the dictionary at all (slang, dialect, names and coined words). We estimate the original at B2, and we do not yet have adaptations. The hard part is not the grammar but the humour: jokes, puns and long showy words used on purpose.

What this means in practice: Short, funny stories with surprising endings, but the slang and wordplay make it harder than the plain sentences suggest.

What to be ready for

Chatty narrator. The narrator talks to the reader, jokes, exaggerates and comments on the story as it goes.

Slang and wordplay. Street slang, puns and invented words are used for comic effect, so some phrases do not appear in a normal dictionary.

Showy vocabulary. O. Henry likes long, formal words in small, ordinary situations, which is part of the joke.

Twist endings. The final sentences often change the meaning of the whole story, so the last paragraph deserves a slow read.

How to read it and not quit

If a phrase seems odd, ask whether it is a joke or slang before looking up each word; O. Henry often uses a formal word for a funny effect.
Pay attention to the final paragraph of each story: a single sentence can reverse what you thought was happening.
Learn the idioms and phrasal verbs as they appear (hold up, give away, turn out); they carry much of the humour in the dialogue.
Read one story at a time and then retell it in your own words: the short, complete plots are ideal for practising summarising.

Contents of “Short Fiction” · 428 chapters

Ipage 1
IIpage 2
IIIpage 3
Bexar Scrip No. 2692page 4
Queries and Answerspage 16
Aristocracy Versus Hashpage 18

All 428 chapters

Fickle Fortune or How Gladys Hustledpage 21
A Strange Storypage 24
Ipage 26
IIpage 28
IIIpage 31
Tracked to Doompage 34
A Snapshot at the Presidentpage 41
Three Paragraphspage 47
A Lunar Episodepage 49
The Sensitive Colonel Jaypage 50
The Distraction of Griefpage 51
A Sporting Interestpage 52
Had a Use for Itpage 53
The Old Landmarkpage 54
Getting at the Factspage 55
Too Wisepage 57
Answers to Inquiriespage 58
Hush Moneypage 58
Relievedpage 59
A Villainous Trickpage 60
Book Reviewspage 60
A Conditional Pardonpage 61
Bill Nyepage 62
A Guarded Secretpage 63
A Universal Favoritepage 65
Willing to Compromisepage 65
Ridiculouspage 66
Guessed Everything Elsepage 66
A Slight Mistakepage 68
A Good Story Spoiledpage 69
A Good Story Spoiled (continued)page 70
No Help for Itpage 71
“Not So Much a Tam Fool”page 71
Chapter Ipage 73
Chapter IIpage 73
Chapter IIIpage 74
Chapter IVpage 74
Chapter Vpage 74
An Inspirationpage 75
Coming to Himpage 75
His Pensionpage 77
The Winnerpage 77
Hungry Henry’s Rusepage 79
One Consolationpage 79
An Unsuccessful Experimentpage 79
Even Worsepage 82
The Shockpage 82
The Cynicpage 83
Speaking of Big Windspage 84
An Original Ideapage 86
Calculationspage 90
Calculations (continued)page 91
Solemn Thoughtspage 92
Explaining Itpage 95
Her Failingpage 95
A Disagreementpage 95
An Expensive Veracitypage 96
Grounds for Uneasinesspage 97
Recognitionpage 97
His Doubtpage 98
A Cheering Thoughtpage 99
What It Waspage 101
Identifiedpage 101
Red Conlin’s Eloquencepage 102
Marvelouspage 105
The Stranger’s Appealpage 105
The Colonel’s Romancepage 107
A Narrow Escapepage 109
A Years Supplypage 111
Slightly Mixedpage 112
Knew What Was Neededpage 113
Some Ancient News Notespage 114
A Sure Methodpage 115
A Tragedypage 116
A Houston Romancepage 118
Nothing New Under the Sunpage 121
A Matter of Loyaltypage 124
By Easy Stagespage 124
Taking No Chancespage 124
The Other Side of Itpage 125
The Bruised Reedpage 127
Journalistically Impossiblepage 131
The Power of Reputationpage 132
A Personal Insultpage 134
Reconciliationpage 135
Buying a Pianopage 135
Too Latepage 137
A New Microbepage 139
A Story for Menpage 141
Just a Little Damppage 145
Her Mysterious Charmpage 145
Why He Hesitatedpage 146
Convincedpage 148
How It Startedpage 149
His Dilemmapage 151
Something for Babypage 153
A Righteous Outburstpage 154
A Green Handpage 155
A Fatal Errorpage 156
The Rake-Offpage 156
The Telegrampage 157
An Opportunity Declinedpage 157
The Confession of a Murdererpage 159
A Startling Demonstrationpage 160
Leap Year Advicepage 162
After Supperpage 164
His Only Opportunitypage 165
Correcting a Great Injusticepage 166
Getting Acquaintedpage 168
City Perilspage 169
Jack the Giant Killerpage 170
No Time to Losepage 174
Paderewski’s Hairpage 174
Binkley’s Practical School of Journalismpage 182
The Applepage 192
A Pastelpage 192
A Night Errantpage 193
Board and Ancestorspage 203
An X-Ray Fablepage 206
The Sporting Editor on Culturepage 207
A Question of Directionpage 209
A Question of Direction (continued)page 209
Lucky Either Waypage 211
The “Bad Man”page 212
Simmon’s Saturday Nightpage 214
Simmon’s Saturday Night (continued)page 229
The Wounded Veteranpage 230
Her Rusepage 233
Why Conductors Are Morosepage 233
Led Astraypage 234
The Mirage on the Friopage 243
The Legend of San Jacintopage 249
In Mezzotintpage 253
Whiskey Did Itpage 256
A Strange Casepage 258
How Willie Saved Fatherpage 263
How Willie Saved Father (continued)page 267
A Mystery of Many Centuriespage 277
The Good Boypage 278
The Dissipated Jewelerpage 279
Sufficient Provocationpage 287
The Pint Flaskpage 288
An Unknown Romancepage 294
How She Got in the Swimpage 298
An Odd Characterpage 301
The Barber Talkspage 305
The Sunday Excursionistpage 310
Barbershop Adventurepage 312
Somebody Liedpage 321
The Lotus and the Cockleburrspage 323
The Lotus and the Cockleburrs (continued)page 337
The Proempage 343
“Fox-in-the-Morning”page 349
The Lotus and the Bottlepage 359
Smithpage 374
Caughtpage 388
Caught (continued)page 402
Cupid’s Exile Number Twopage 403
The Phonograph and the Graftpage 409
The Phonograph and the Graft (continued)page 424
Money Mazepage 426
The Admiralpage 438
The Flag Paramountpage 448
The Shamrock and the Palmpage 460
The Shamrock and the Palm (continued)page 475
The Remnants of the Codepage 482
Shoespage 493
Shipspage 505
Masters of Artspage 515
Masters of Arts (continued)page 529
Dickypage 534
Rouge Et Noirpage 549
Two Recallspage 559
Two Recalls (continued)page 570
Two Recalls (continued)page 571
Two Recalls (continued)page 571
Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stockingpage 572
Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking (continued)page 586
Georgia’s Rulingpage 595
Georgia’s Ruling (continued)page 610
Bulger’s Friendpage 612
A Blackjack Bargainerpage 622
A Blackjack Bargainer (continued)page 636
The Duplicity of Hargravespage 642
The Duplicity of Hargraves (continued)page 656
The Passing of Black Eaglepage 659
The Passing of Black Eagle (continued)page 674
Cherchez La Femmepage 675
Friends in San Rosariopage 686
Friends in San Rosario (continued)page 701
The Marionettespage 705
The Marionettes (continued)page 720
By Courierpage 723
Madame Bo-Peep, of the Ranchespage 728
Madame Bo-Peep, of the Ranches (continued)page 742
An Afternoon Miraclepage 752
An Afternoon Miracle (continued)page 766
A Call Loanpage 767
The Struggle of the Outlierspage 774
A Professional Secretpage 781
Cupid à la Cartepage 795
Cupid à la Carte (continued)page 809
A Departmental Casepage 819
A Departmental Case (continued)page 834
Round the Circlepage 836
The Cactuspage 842
The Renaissance at Charleroipage 847
The Renaissance at Charleroi (continued)page 861
Hearts and Handspage 865
A Ghost of a Chancepage 869
Art and the Broncopage 879
Art and the Bronco (continued)page 893
Hygeia at the Solitopage 895
Hygeia at the Solito (continued)page 909
Sound and Furypage 914
The Left Branchpage 914
The Right Branchpage 923
The Main Roadpage 935
The Robe of Peacepage 942
A Retrieved Reformationpage 948
One Dollar’s Worthpage 958
While the Auto Waitspage 968
The Guardian of the Accoladepage 974
October and Junepage 987
The Marquis and Miss Sallypage 990
Out of Nazarethpage 1004
Out of Nazareth (continued)page 1018
The Atavism of John Tom Little Bearpage 1021
The Atavism of John Tom Little Bear (continued)page 1036
The Whirligig of Lifepage 1040
The Fourth in Salvadorpage 1048
The Fourth in Salvador (continued)page 1063
Ipage 1064
IIpage 1066
IIIpage 1069
Tobin’s Palmpage 1070
The Lonesome Roadpage 1081
Confessions of a Humoristpage 1094
At Arms with Morpheuspage 1106
The Princess and the Pumapage 1112
A Chaparral Christmas Giftpage 1120
The Sphinx Applepage 1127
The Sphinx Apple (continued)page 1141
The Pimienta Pancakespage 1148
The Social Trianglepage 1162
The Elusive Tenderloinpage 1169
A Chaparral Princepage 1174
The Ferry of Unfulfilmentpage 1187
The Pendulumpage 1192
The Hypotheses of Failurepage 1199
The Hypotheses of Failure (continued)page 1213
Transformation of Martin Burneypage 1215
A Little Local Colourpage 1221
A Newspaper Storypage 1229
A Madison Square Arabian Nightpage 1233
The Champion of the Weatherpage 1242
On Behalf of the Managementpage 1248
On Behalf of the Management (continued)page 1262
The Enchanted Kisspage 1265
The Enchanted Kiss (continued)page 1279
The Adventures of Shamrock Jolnespage 1282
After Twenty Yearspage 1290
The Sparrows in Madison Squarepage 1294
Lost on Dress Paradepage 1299
The Reformation of Calliopepage 1308
Witches’ Loavespage 1320
New York by Camp Fire Lightpage 1324
The Romance of a Busy Brokerpage 1330
A Matter of Mean Elevationpage 1335
The Brief Debut of Tildypage 1348
The Brief Debut of Tildy (continued)page 1356
The Brief Debut of Tildy (continued)page 1371
The Easter of the Soulpage 1373
Ulysses and the Dogmanpage 1379
The Complete Life of John Hopkinspage 1387
The Caliph and the Cadpage 1394
The Door of Unrestpage 1399
The Emancipation of Billypage 1413
A Harlem Tragedypage 1427
Dougherty’s Eye-Openerpage 1435
The Rubber Plant’s Storypage 1442
The Gold That Glitteredpage 1448
A Lickpenny Loverpage 1459
The Missing Chordpage 1466
The Missing Chord (continued)page 1478
One Thousand Dollarspage 1490
A Comedy in Rubberpage 1498
The Defeat of the Citypage 1504
The Pride of the Citiespage 1512
The Greater Coneypage 1518
Transients in Arcadiapage 1524
The Lady Higher Uppage 1532
The Foreign Policy of Company 99page 1537
Two Renegadespage 1545
Two Renegades (continued)page 1560
A Tempered Windpage 1560
A Tempered Wind (continued)page 1574
The Roads We Takepage 1584
The Furnished Roompage 1590
A Philistine in Bohemiapage 1599
The Diamond of Kalipage 1606
A Little Talk About Mobspage 1614
Suite Homes and Their Romancepage 1618
The Caliph, Cupid and the Clockpage 1625
Makes the Whole World Kinpage 1633
The Love-Philtre of Ikey Schoensteinpage 1638
The Rathskeller and the Rosepage 1645
A Sacrifice Hitpage 1652
The Sleuthspage 1658
From the Cabby’s Seatpage 1666
The Theory and the Houndpage 1672
The Coming-Out of Maggiepage 1685
Squaring the Circlepage 1694
Hearts and Crossespage 1700
Hearts and Crosses (continued)page 1715
The Ransom of Mackpage 1716
The Cop and the Anthempage 1724
Christmas by Injunctionpage 1732
Christmas by Injunction (continued)page 1747
The Green Doorpage 1747
The Church with an Overshot-Wheelpage 1757
The Church with an Overshot-Wheel (continued)page 1771
The Badge of Policeman O’Roonpage 1773
A Ramble in Aphasiapage 1780
A Ramble in Aphasia (continued)page 1794
The Making of a New Yorkerpage 1795
A Service of Lovepage 1802
Psyche and the Pskyscraperpage 1810
A Cosmopolite in a Cafépage 1819
A Cosmopolite in a Café (continued)page 1826
Vanity and Some Sablespage 1833
Vanity and Some Sables (continued)page 1841
Babes in the Junglepage 1848
The Song and the Sergeantpage 1856
Man About Townpage 1864
Memoirs of a Yellow Dogpage 1871
Mammon and the Archerpage 1877
The Detective Detectorpage 1886
“Little Speck in Garnered Fruit”page 1892
The Shocks of Doompage 1899
Extradited from Bohemiapage 1907
The Red Roses of Toniapage 1915
Springtime à la Cartepage 1927
Between Roundspage 1935
Tommy’s Burglarpage 1942
The Marry Month of Maypage 1949
The Girl and the Graftpage 1957
The Call of the Tamepage 1965
According to Their Lightspage 1972
Roses, Ruses and Romancepage 1980
The Voice of the Citypage 1986
Ipage 1993
IIpage 1997
IIIpage 2001
IVpage 2006
Sisters of the Golden Circlepage 2011
The Dog and the Playletpage 2019
An Adjustment of Naturepage 2025
An Adjustment of Nature (continued)page 2031
The Lost Blendpage 2038
An Unfinished Storypage 2045
Nemesis and the Candy Manpage 2054
The City of Dreadful Nightpage 2062
The Skylight Roompage 2069
The Assessor of Successpage 2077
From Each According to His Abilitypage 2085
The Poet and the Peasantpage 2094
A Bird of Bagdadpage 2102
The Plutonian Firepage 2111
“The Guilty Party”page 2120
The Count and the Wedding Guestpage 2128
The Last Leafpage 2137
Elsie in New Yorkpage 2145
The Clarion Callpage 2155
The Tale of a Tainted Tennerpage 2165
Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemenpage 2173
Blind Man’s Holidaypage 2180
Blind Man’s Holiday (continued)page 2195
Telemachus, Friendpage 2207
A Double-Dyed Deceiverpage 2217
A Double-Dyed Deceiver (continued)page 2232
The Gift of the Magipage 2233
The Duelpage 2240
The Thing’s the Playpage 2247
The Rubaiyat of a Scotch Highballpage 2257
The Buyer from Cactus Citypage 2265
The Harbingerpage 2273
The Day Resurgentpage 2281
The Fool-Killerpage 2289
The Handbook of Hymenpage 2300
The Handbook of Hymen (continued)page 2314
Brickdust Rowpage 2316
Sociology in Serge and Strawpage 2326
“Girl”page 2335
A Ruler of Menpage 2342
A Ruler of Men (continued)page 2356
The Trimmed Lamppage 2366
The Trimmed Lamp (continued)page 2381
The Higher Abdicationpage 2382
The Higher Abdication (continued)page 2396
Calloway’s Codepage 2409
The Country of Elusionpage 2418
The Ethics of Pigpage 2429
Compliments of the Seasonpage 2442
Seats of the Haughtypage 2454
Seats of the Haughty (continued)page 2469
The Purple Dresspage 2473
Past One at Rooney’spage 2480
Past One at Rooney’s (continued)page 2494
The Indian Summer of Dry Valley Johnsonpage 2497
The Man Higher Uppage 2508
The Man Higher Up (continued)page 2522
Proof of the Puddingpage 2526
The Halberdier of the Little Rheinschlosspage 2538
The Caballero’s Waypage 2551
The Caballero’s Way (continued)page 2565
The Ransom of Red Chiefpage 2568
The Ransom of Red Chief (continued)page 2582
The Fifth Wheelpage 2583
The Fifth Wheel (continued)page 2597
The World and the Doorpage 2598
The World and the Door (continued)page 2613
Phoebepage 2616
Phoebe (continued)page 2630
“Next to Reading Matter”page 2638
“Next to Reading Matter” (continued)page 2653
The Day We Celebratepage 2658
The Octopus Maroonedpage 2666
Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnetpage 2675
Modern Rural Sportspage 2684
The Chair of Philanthromathematicspage 2692
The Hand That Riles the Worldpage 2701
The Exact Science of Matrimonypage 2709
A Midsummer Masqueradepage 2718
Shearing the Wolfpage 2726
Innocents of Broadwaypage 2734
Conscience in Artpage 2743
The Mementopage 2751
The Enchanted Profilepage 2763
A Night in New Arabiapage 2774
A Night in New Arabia (continued)page 2788
The Headhunterpage 2792
The Headhunter (continued)page 2807
The Moment of Victorypage 2809
The Moment of Victory (continued)page 2823
“The Rose of Dixie”page 2825
“The Rose of Dixie” (continued)page 2840
Buried Treasurepage 2840
The Last of the Troubadourspage 2854
The Last of the Troubadours (continued)page 2868
Strictly Businesspage 2869
Strictly Business (continued)page 2884
“What You Want”page 2885
The Hiding of Black Billpage 2892
The Hiding of Black Bill (continued)page 2907
Ipage 2908
IIpage 2911
IIIpage 2913
IVpage 2917
Vpage 2922
The Discounters of Moneypage 2922
He Also Servespage 2931
He Also Serves (continued)page 2946
The Third Ingredientpage 2946
The Third Ingredient (continued)page 2960
Thimble, Thimblepage 2963
Thimble, Thimble (continued)page 2977
Thimble, Thimble (continued)page 2979
IIpage 2979
IIIpage 2983
IVpage 2989
Supply and Demandpage 2989
To Him Who Waitspage 3003
Ipage 3017
IIpage 3017
Ipage 3026
IIpage 3028
IIIpage 3032
IVpage 3041
No Storypage 3042
A Poor Rulepage 3056
A Poor Rule (continued)page 3070
Rus in Urbepage 3072
The Venturerspage 3083
The Venturers (continued)page 3098
The Venturers (continued)page 3100
The Venturers (continued)page 3114
A Christmas Pipage 3122
A Technical Errorpage 3124
Let Me Feel Your Pulsepage 3133
Let Me Feel Your Pulse (continued)page 3147
The Friendly Callpage 3148
The Snow Manpage 3163
The Snow Man (continued)page 3177
Law and Orderpage 3185
Law and Order (continued)page 3199
An Unfinished Christmas Storypage 3205
The Unprofitable Servantpage 3211
The Unprofitable Servant (continued)page 3226
A Fog in Santonepage 3228
The Dreampage 3238
Endnotespage 3242

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The story of “Short Fiction”

1898
Convicted of embezzlement
William Sydney Porter was convicted in Texas over missing bank funds and served his sentence in an Ohio prison, where he began publishing under the pen name O. Henry.
1903
Weekly stories for the New York World
From 1903 he wrote a story a week for the Sunday World, and the pace made his name.
1906
The Four Million
His first New York collection, containing "The Gift of the Magi", which had first appeared in the World in December 1905.
1910
Death in New York
O. Henry died in June 1910 at the age of 47.
1919
O. Henry Memorial Award
A prize for the best short stories of the year was set up in his name and is still given as the O. Henry Prize.

In culture “Short Fiction”

8 adaptations and mentions, 1904–1952

1904
In the language "Banana republic"
O. Henry used the term in Cabbages and Kings (1904) for an unstable small country run for the profit of foreign companies.
1905
In the language "The Gift of the Magi"
Now means a situation in which two people each sacrifice their treasure for the other and each gift becomes useless.
1907
In the language "The last leaf"
From O. Henry's story of a sick painter who believes she will die when the last leaf falls, and now used for a last hope that someone clings to.
1907
In the language "The Ransom of Red Chief"
Refers to a kidnapping that goes wrong because the captive is so unbearable that the kidnappers end up paying to return him.
1928
Film In Old Arizona
An early sound western built on "The Caballero's Way", in which Warner Baxter won an Academy Award playing the Cisco Kid.
1950
Series The Cisco Kid
The hero came from O. Henry's story "The Caballero's Way" and went on to films and a television series.
1952
Film O. Henry's Full House
A Fox anthology film that dramatised five of his stories.
In the language "An O. Henry ending"
Shorthand for a story that turns on a last-line twist.

Questions and answers about “Short Fiction” in English

Who was O. Henry?

O. Henry was the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter, who lived from 1862 to 1910. He wrote hundreds of short stories, many of them about everyday life in New York.

What is the most famous O. Henry story?

"The Gift of the Magi" is usually named first. It is a short Christmas story about a young married couple who each give up something precious to buy the other a present.

Why do O. Henry stories always have a twist?

The surprise ending is his trademark: he builds each story so that the last lines change its meaning. This style became so closely tied to his name that a surprise ending is still often called an O. Henry ending.

Which O. Henry story should I read first?

"The Gift of the Magi" is the usual starting point, and "The Last Leaf" and "The Ransom of Red Chief" are also well loved. They show different sides of him: tender, sad and comic.

Do I have to read the stories in order?

No, each story is complete by itself and you can read them in any order. Pick by title or by length.

Is this the complete collection?

It is a very large collection of his short fiction, so you are not expected to read it from start to finish. Think of it as a library you can dip into.

Are the stories true?

No, they are fiction, though he used real places such as New York streets and Texas towns. He also drew on people he met, but the plots are invented.

What makes O. Henry hard for English learners?

The slang, puns and long formal words used as jokes are the main difficulty. The grammar itself is mostly straightforward.

Are there films of O. Henry's stories?

Yes, several of his stories have been adapted for film and television, and some of them have been used in anthology films. The adaptations are usually less surprising than the original, because the twist is the part you know.

What is the O. Henry Prize?

It is an American literary award for short stories that has been given every year since 1919, named in his memory. It shows how much his name is tied to the short-story form.

In brief about “Short Fiction”

16 fields of imprint data and measured text characteristics. All of it checkable.

Original title: Short Fiction
Author: O. Henry
Original language: English
Genre: Short stories · Humor · Classics
Mood: Tender
Themes: Love · Sacrifice · Class
Setting: mostly New York City, with stories set in Texas, the American South and Central America · the late 1890s and early 1900s
Distinct words: 33,940

Words per sentence: 15 words
Level of the original: C2
Versions: C2
Length of the original: 508 ch. · 891,555 words
Reading time: ~82 h 30 min
Source text: Standard Ebooks
Rights: CC0 1.0 Universal (Public Domain Dedication)
Download: EPUB