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Reading short stories can be quite enjoyable and even thought-provoking, since they are written to convey a simple story or a single theme concentrated into a relatively small number of words. In a way, they can be more pointed than novels, since the message is not diluted by the necessary linking narrative necessary to keep the story of a novel flowing. One of the most popular American master of this format was O. Henry, which is the pen name for William Porter, who in an eight-year career produced several hundred short stories. I have read many of his stories, set in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and seen his house in Austin, Texas, where he lived for part of his life. However, his main focus was New York City, where over half of his stories are set or are in some way connected. He is known for his endings, which often give a subtle twist to what the reader was expecting.
In retirement, I am working through the complete collection of his published stories, but the book reviewed here, The Gift of the Magi and Other Stories, is a selection of some of his best and most well-known stories, according to the editor. I would estimate the reading and understanding level to be at the high school level, in general. The Gift of the Magi is perhaps the best-known of his stories and possibly the only one of which most people have ever heard. I really like this story, but it is not my favorite in this book. A Service of Love is similar in theme and I like it better. My favorites in this volume are: After Twenty Years, Lost on Dress Parade (I wrote a sequel to this one myself since I had that eternal longing of most readers – to find out what happened next), A Retrieved Reformation, The Romance of a Busy Broker, Rus in Urbe, and The Higher Pragmatism. A few of the stories I did not like very much but you will have to be the judge of that – tastes vary between people, of course. You will laugh a lot at some of these stories, be touched by others, and be surprised by almost all the endings. And classic short stories make a great part of a literature curriculum. I do miss one story that was not included in this collection – The Ransom of Red Chief. This is perhaps the funniest short story I have ever read and I recommend it heartily to you (you can find it at https://www.classicshorts.com/stories/redchief.html).as you move on past this collection.