Four Million Books in Order

These New York stories turn attention toward people usually overlooked by high society, including clerks, waiters and struggling couples. Love, hardship and unexpected encounters shape their lives in tales such as The Gift of the Magi and After Twenty Years.

O. Henry returns to New York’s working lives in stories about ambition, kindness and uncertain fortunes. Young women seeking opportunity, unlikely benefactors and struggling neighbors face situations in which appearances and expectations can prove misleading.

Set among the streets and varied inhabitants of New York, these stories follow ordinary people through love, disappointment and unexpected encounters. Workers and socialites share a city where chance meetings reveal the distance between public appearances and private lives.