List of Short Stories by O. Henry

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. O. Henry’s short stories are noted for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings.

He started writing stories rather late in his life. He had worked variously as a shepherd, portrait artist, musician, cook, babysitter, banker, journalist and translator before that. All these opened him to an active social life and the experience contributed to making him a writer of popular acclaim.

His first collection of stories namely Cabbages and Kings was published in 1904. All the stories in this collection were collected from conversations with people he knew in person. His stories are remembered for the unexpected endings he gave them. His classic titles include The Last Leaf, The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem, and The Cactus. Henry had an obvious affection for New York City and its diversity of people and places, a reverence that marks many of his stories.

O. Henry died in 1910 and is buried in North Carolina.

Here is the list of famous short stories written by William Sydney Porter aka O. Henry:

The Gift of the Magi

Between Rounds

The Skylight Room

A Service of Love

The Coming-Out of Maggie

The Cop and the Anthem

A Cosmopolite in a Café

Conscience in Art

Memoirs of a Yellow Dog

The Love-philtre of Ikey Shoenstein

The Furnished Room

The Last Leaf

The Poet and the Peasant

A Ramble in Aphasia

A Municipal Report

Proof of the Pudding

The Duplicity of Hargreaves