Reading A to Z: O is for O. Henry

Okay, so the only O. Henry I have read is The Gift of the Magi. But that is such a powerful story! Jim and Della are recently married. Jim takes pride in his gold watch. Della takes pride in her long hair. They have little money and live as frugally as they can.

On Christmas Eve, each one wants to do something special for the other. Della wants to buy Jim a fob for his beloved watch, so she sells her hair. But Jim has sold his watch so that he can purchase an expensive set of combs for her beautiful hair. All they end up being able to truly give is how much they love each other. After all, what else really matters?


O. Henry wrote hundreds of other short stories in addition to this famous fable. The one I most interested in checking out would be "The Ransom of Red Chief." In this story, two robbers kidnap a young boy who ends up being so obnoxious that they end up paying the boy's father to finally take him back. Sounds like a winner!