Whirligigs (1910) 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 poverty and provincial life with humor and abundant empathy. “The Ransom of Red Chief, ” the most notable of the collection’s twenty-four stories, is considered one of Henry’s finest works and has been adapted numerous times for television and film. “The Ransom of Red Chief” follows two petty criminals named Bill and Sam, who devise a plan to hold an influential citizen’s son for ransom. They kidnap Johnny Dorset, a ten-year-old boy who soon takes a liking to the pair and gives himself the name “Red Chief.” As Bill and Sam attempt to collect their ransom money, the Red Chief subjects them to tiring games and pranks, causing the two criminals to regret their hasty decision. In “The Whirligig of Life, ” a story set in a frontier settlement near the Cumberland Mountains, a Justice of the Peace officiates a divorce between two quarreling settlers. He charges them five dollars for the ceremony, but when the husband realizes he has no money left for alimony, the judge looks for ways to hold onto his hard-earned wages. Whirligigs is a collection of humorous stories by O. Henry, an icon of short story writing. This edition of O. Henry’s Whirligigs 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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