The Voice of the City (1908) is a collection of twenty-five short stories by American writer O. Henry. Inspired by his experiences as a fugitive and prisoner, these stories address themes of poverty and city life with humor and abundant empathy. Its focus on the regular, working class people of New York City makes The Voice of the City a sequel of sorts to Henry’s The Four Million (1906), perhaps his most important collection. In “The Voice of the City, ” a determined reporter takes to the streets in search of the authentic New York. With an abundance of wit and without social grace, he attempts to interview a young woman sitting on her stoop, a busy bartender, and a corrupt policeman, asking each for their opinion on how the city speaks to them. Despite his efforts, however, he discovers that, for the most part, the city best speaks for itself. “The Complete Life of John Hopkins” follows a day in the life of its title character. In the middle of a conversation with his wife, he decides to step out of his modest flat in search of a cheap cigar. When a fight with a shop owner and a policeman somehow leads him to the home of a wealthy aristocrat, he finds enough excitement to last him a lifetime. In “A Lickpenny Lover, ” a young shop girl agrees to go on a date with a patron of her department store glove counter who promises her comfort and wealth. This edition of O. Henry’s The Voice of the City is a classic of American literature reimagined for modern readers.
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Tentang Penulis
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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