FreeLook BookStore

Home

Our Picks Classics Club E•Zine About Us

BOOK Categories  •  BOOK Authors  •  BOOK Titles  •  Classics Home

Classic Club Book Notes

DOWNLOAD Book  •  OTHER Books By Author

The Voice Of The City And Other Stories

By O. Henry ( William Sidney Porter )

About This Book

THERE IS a saying that no man has tasted the full flavor of life until he has known poverty, love and war. The justness of this reflection commends it to the lover of condensed philosophy. The three conditions embrace about all there is in life worth knowing. A surface thinker might deem that wealth should be added to the list. Not so. When a poor man finds a long-bidden quarter-dollar that has slipped through a rip into his vest lining, he sounds the pleasure of life with a deeper plummet than any millionaire can hope to cast.

The Hopkins flat was like a thousand others. There was a rubber plant in one window; a flea-bitten terrier sat in the other, wondering when he was to have his day . . .

Twenty-five big-city stories about troubles and small joys. And large joys. And courage large and small.

About O. Henry ( William Sidney Porter )

(1862-1910) Short-story writer Sidney Porter's early life was one of hard knocks and strong recoveries. He was born in North Carolina just before the start of the Civil War. When he was 20 years old, he moved to Texas to become a cowboy, but was set to herding sheep and carrying the mail. So two years later, he moved to Austin soon became a bank teller. After his marriage in 1887, he launched an humor magazine, and when that failed, he moved on to become a reporter, columnist and occasional cartoonist at the Houston Post.

In 1896, when he was 34, he was indicted for embezzlement of bank funds and fled the country. His safety did not last long. His wife's fatal illness brought him back to Austin, and after her death, two years later he was convicted and sent to the penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio, where his sentenced was shortened to three years for good behavior. While in prison, he served as the night druggist and spent much of his time writing adventure stories, using the money he earned to help support his daughter, Margaret. During that time he began using the pen name of O. Henry.

Thereafter he produced hundreds of stories that filled over fifteen books. But despite the great success of his writing, O. Henry's final ten years were a struggle with financial difficulties and alcoholism. His stories reflect his life, in that they show deep sympathy for those who are hard put, and hard up . . . and unlucky.

DOWNLOAD This Book!

To download this book, click on the above DOWNLOAD link, and save the book to a temporary file on your computer (such as your desktop). Then, execute the book to install it on your computer. For more information see the installation notes that come with your book.

After downloading and installing your book, click on the "FreeLook BookStore" shortcut that has been added to your desktop. Then select the folder for the book you want to read, and open the book by clicking on the "Open Your Book Here" icon within the top-level book folder.

All books are provided in self-extracting WinZip format, and include an installation procedure that adds a "FreeLook BookStore" shortcut to your desktop. All books require Windows 95 / 98 / NT or 2000 operating systems.


BOOK Categories  •  BOOK Authors  •  BOOK Titles  •  Top

Copyright © 2018 FreeLook BookStore. All rights reserved. Comments always welcome!