Uncovering the story behind O. Henry’s short stories

On this date in 1901, William Sydney Porter was released from jail

after serving a three-year sentence. Porter had been bouncing around

from job to job, including working in a bank.

Many years later, while working for the Houston Post, a warrant

was issued for his arrest for embezzlement, and he fled to Honduras.

He returned, however, upon hearing of his wife’s terminal illness,

and was arrested. The story goes that one of his guards was named

Orrin Henry.

On his release, and in need of finding a way to support his

daughter, he left Texas for New York. He changed his name to O.

Henry, and the rest is history in the annals of short-story writing.

Though he died at the age of 47 due to a two-quart-a-day drinking

habit, O. Henry had become quite a success for his brief stories --

most of which were romantic in nature. The stories were noted for

their wry, surprise endings, usually based on an ironic coincidence.

Though not beloved by the critics, the public loved Porter/Henry

and the O. Henry Award is still the most prestigious award for

short-story writing.

We all remember reading short stories in school and enjoying them,

yet they are a neglected form for many people when it comes to their

adult reading.

Though most of the great writers have written in the form and many

great writers specialized in the art of short storytelling, we tend

to forget about them.

Still, the form has its followers. Bus or train commuters, for

example, find the short form just the thing for one’s daily journey.

Others begin reading authors through their short stories, as

samplers, so to speak.

But most short story readers appreciate them for the sheer skill

involved in their composition, and the precision of the prose.

William Faulkner once wrote, “In a short story, that’s next to the

poem, almost every word has got to be almost exactly right ... You

have less room to be slovenly and careless. There’s less room for

trash.”

Faulkner was referring specifically to Anton Chekhov, arguably the

finest short-story writer of all time.

But he was not alone. Other great masters of the short literary

form include Flannery O’Connor, Guy de Maupassant, Alice Munro, Isaac

Bashevis Singer, W.S. Maugham, V.S. Pritchett, Jack London, Isak

Dinesen, and so on.

All of them can be found on the fiction shelves next to their

novels; just look for the author’s last name.

For those who like to use short stories as an introduction to an

author, or to see if his style is appealing enough to pursue, try

Mark Helprin’s “The Pacific and Other Stories” or “A Dove of the East

and Other Stories” to see if his magical style is worth pursuing in

his much longer novels.

Robert Olen Butler’s stories from “A Good Scent from a Strange

Mountain: Stories” are wonderful, almost like watercolor paintings

that may lead you to his novels.

If plunging into James Joyce has always seemed a daunting task,

browse through “Dubliners” to help appreciate why he is one of the

greatest writers of the 20th century.

In addition to a collection of stories all by the same writer,

there are hundreds of short-story collections that provide a sampling

-- not only of style and skill, but of many different authors at the

same time.

Such titles as “The Treasury of English Short Stories” or “The O.

Henry Prize Stories” offer a chance at the self-indulgence of reading

in a world full of e-mails, commuting, soccer practice and cable

news.

In other words, if you don’t have time for a five-course meal,

enjoy a delicious, perfect bonbon.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog

athttps://www.newport beach- library.org. For more information on the

Central Library or any of the branches, please contact the Newport

Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.