Roads of Destiny (1909) is a collection of short stories by American writer O. Henry. Inspired by his experiences as a fugitive and in prison, these stories address themes of crime, poverty, and fate. “A Retrieved Reformation, ” perhaps the most notable of the collection’s twenty-two stories, is semi-autobiographical in that it explores the life of a criminal and fugitive who maintains a moral identity while struggling to adjust to life outside of prison. “Roads of Destiny” is the story of a French poet and shepherd named David Mignot. After fighting with his lover Yvonne, he decides to leave his home village of Vernoy in search of fame and adventure. The dreamlike narrative follows him down three paths: one takes him to the home of a wealthy Marquis, where he falls in love with his young daughter; the next leads him to the halls of the king, where he is recruited to act as a body double during a visit to the nearby cathedral; the final one finds him turning back toward home, where he struggles to balance a life of marriage with his poetic calling. In “A Retrieved Reformation, ” a safecracker named Jimmy Valentine attempts to lead a quiet life following his release from prison. Using an assumed identity, he settles in Arkansas, where he marries the beautiful daughter of a local banker. Despite his best efforts, however, his criminal past threatens to resurface at every turn. Roads of Destiny is a collection of stories exploring themes of fate and identity by an icon of American literature. This edition of O. Henry’s Roads of Destiny is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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O. Henry (1862-1910) was an American short story writer. Born and raised in North Carolina, O. Henry—whose real name was William Sydney Porter—moved to Texas in 1882 in search of work. He met and married Athol Estes in Austin, where he became well known as a musician and socialite. In 1888, Athol gave birth to a son who died soon after, and in 1889 a daughter named Margaret was born. Porter began working as a teller and bookkeeper at the First National Bank of Austin in 1890 and was fired four years later and accused of embezzlement. Afterward, he began publishing a satirical weekly called The Rolling Stone, but in 1895 he was arrested in Houston following an audit of his former employer. While waiting to stand trial, Henry fled to Honduras, where he lived for six months before returning to Texas to surrender himself upon hearing of Athol’s declining health. She died in July of 1897 from tuberculosis, and Porter served three years at the Ohio Penitentiary before moving to Pittsburgh to care for his daughter. While in prison, he began publishing stories under the pseudonym “O. Henry, ” finding some success and launching a career that would blossom upon his release with such short stories as “The Gift of the Magi” (1905) and “The Ransom of Red Chief” (1907). He is recognized as one of America’s leading writers of short fiction, and the annual O. Henry Award—which has been won by such writers as William Faulkner, John Updike, and Eudora Welty—remains one of America’s most prestigious literary prizes.
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