Over two hundred and eighty stories, humoresques, sketches, and just one novel - all this is included in the bibliography of William Sidney Porter, known throughout the world under the pseudonym O. Henry. He possessed subtle humor. Each piece ended with an unexpected denouement. The stories of William Sidney Porter are light, laid-back, concise. Many of them are filmed. And what was the life of this amazing person? We offer you a story about the remarkable writer O. Henry, whose works you, no doubt, know very well.
Childhood
The future genius of "pen and paper" lost his mother at the age of three. Tuberculosis brought a woman to the grave - a disease that became fatal in the life of William Sidney Porter. The biography of our hero begins in 1862 in the infamous city of Greensboro, located in the state of North Carolina.
Father after the death of his wife quickly drunk. Willy (as he was called in a narrow circle) was brought up in the aunt's family, began to earn a living at the age of fifteen. He received the specialty of a pharmacist, got a job in a pharmacy counter. Such work did not in the best way affect his poor health. The young man daily inhaled the aromas of powders and potions, which was contraindicated for him, given the lung disease that was inherited from his mother.
Future writer William Sidney Porter hated his father. Peers called him only the son of a mad inventor Algernon. Why inventor? Algernon Porter was known as a loser, lived in poverty, lost his beloved wife - all this was intensely flooded with alcohol, and in the end he finally lost his mind. In a drunken stupor he was often visited by "brilliant" ideas.
Texas
Willy did not work at the pharmacy for long. In the early eighties, he went to the land of cowboys and farmers, where he lived on the ranch of his friends for several months. Doctors found signs of tuberculosis in a future prose writer at the age of sixteen. Climate change was required.
At the ranch, he helped with the housework, not paying for room and board. But he didn’t receive a salary either. Restoring health, the hero of our story went to Austin. Here he worked as an accountant, and accountant, and draftsman, and cashier. Perhaps even then he dreamed of becoming a writer, and therefore he tried many professions, talked with various people, experienced many hardships, in a word, gained rich life experience. This became the basis for literary creation.
The first stories of William Porter were published in the early 80s of the 19th century. Short works, filled with humor and subtle observations, instantly gained popularity. Along with other materials - poems and drawings, they were present in almost every issue of the humorous magazine The Rolling Stone.
Readers did not know the real name of the author. They did not know that this talented writer had created his first story in prison, not somewhere else. William Sydney Porter did not give an interview, did not take pictures with readers and did not sign books for them. For a long time, editors puzzled over where this literary nugget came from. Journalists, as usual, composed fantastic stories.
Who, in fact, was the author of small literary masterpieces, popular not only in the USA, but also far beyond its borders?
Embezzlement
The future novelist got a job at the bank, but soon quit, and then was involved in the embezzlement case. There are still disputes about the guilt of O. Henry. He really needed the money that was needed to treat his wife with tuberculosis.
The jailless cashier ended up in prison a year later. He went on the run, lived for some time in New Orleans, then went to Honduras, where he met a remarkable personality - Ell Jangson, a professional robber who later wrote his memoirs.
O. Henry returned from travel in 1897. My wife was near death by then. In July of that year, she died. The fugitive was detained, tried, sent to Columbus Prison in Ohio. In penal servitude, he spent more than three years and, according to the writer's biographers, composed the first work.
Geographic community
William Sidney Porter came up with a pseudonym for himself at the very beginning of his career. But there are several versions. The pseudonym of William Sidney Porter, more precisely, the history of the creation of the name of O. Henry, is discussed further. We will clarify the details of the literary debut.
Some researchers believe that O. Henry took up the pen long before the sad story of the loss of bank money. At the ranch, Willie became the subject of cowboy mockery. And so he fled to Austin, where he found the work of a cartographer, which brings neither pleasure nor money. So the failed O. Henry would have vegetated if it had not been for the happy occasion.
The boss entrusted the young man with writing notes on geographical society. He brilliantly coped with the task. They paid a little money, but the point is different: William understood what his calling was.
Etol Roach
Photo of William Sydney Porter dreamed of seeing fans of his work. But he was a non-public person. He possessed a rare storyteller talent, was able to attract the attention of others with witty stories. However, he did not speculate as his success; he was never a womanizer. Ethol Roach, whom he met at the age of 22, became the main woman in his life. The master of small prose married a second time. But this happened already in another life - in the life of the famous writer O. Henry.
Etol was the daughter of the head of that same Geographical community. That is, a rich bride. Parents did not appreciate their daughter's choice. The wedding was hasty, as Etol was expecting a baby.
So, William said goodbye to a bachelor lifestyle. After the wedding, Mr. Roach procured a position for the newly-made son-in-law, who soon made the half-worn writer a thief and embezzler. Another detail in which investigators saw the motives for the crime was that the prose writer needed money to publish a literary magazine.
Nickname
By the beginning of the 90s, novels by O. Henry were widely known. Few knew his real name. William Sydney Porter worked in a prison infirmary during his imprisonment and, surprisingly, he had time to write stories there. Once in a secular news column, he saw the name "Henry". He added the initial “O” to it, in such a straightforward way he created a pseudonym that became world famous at the beginning of the 20th century.
There are other versions. William Sidney Porter Henry ”formed on behalf of a French pharmacist or on behalf of the prison in which he spent a little more than three years. For "good behavior" he was released ahead of schedule.
Creation
The peak of his literary career came in 1904-1905. By the beginning of the century, he already had a wide readership, since his stories were published by publishers with pleasure. Small form, interesting, unexpected outcome, light satire - these are the main features of the unique literary style of the American classic.
In 1902, O. Henry moved to New York. Here he healed in a big way, learned to spend more than earn. And of course, mired in debt. I had to write a lot, intensively. For the Sunday World magazine, he created one story a day, receiving $ 100 for each small work. This is at that time a very impressive amount. So the work of recognized novelists was paid.
Over time, Porter slowed down the pace of literary productivity. “Gifts of the Magi”, “Four Million”, “Room in the Attic”, “Gold and Love” - in these stories the author told about his work. What else did William Sidney Porter write? “The Last Leaf”, “Noble Rogue”, “Rotation”. His only novel is called Kings and Cabbage. It was first published in 1904. Korney Chukovsky translated most of the short stories into Russian.
"Kings and cabbage"
The novel takes place in a fictional state - Anchuria. Residents of the country spend their days idle, they are not embarrassed by poverty. The government of Anchuria is organizing one revolution after another.
O. Henry completed work on the work in 1904, but the book “Kings and Cabbage” also included stories published separately. Many short stories were written by him during his stay in Honduras, where he hid from justice. Among them are “Lotus and a Bottle”, “Money Fever”, “Game and Gramophone”, “Artists”. After 1904, the works were not published separately.
In the title of the novel, an allusion to a poem from the book of Lewis Carroll. The shipping company is one of the main images in the work. Her prototype was the firm of Samuel Zemurrey - a famous businessman and philanthropist.
"Noble crook"
This is a storybook, published in 1905 in New York. In all works there is a character named Jeff Peters. On his behalf, a narrative is being conducted. Jeff and another hero, Andy Tucker, make a living by fraud. They exploit human stupidity, greed, vanity. There are no these bright, interesting heroes in only two stories - “The Silent Wind” and “The Hostages of Momus”.
Like many other works of O. Henry, The Noble Rogue was first translated into Russian by Korney Chukovsky, and later Joseph Baker. The book was filmed four times. The last film based on stories from the collection was released in 1997. This is the Belarusian film "Cases of Lokhovsky", in which the author's storylines are used very freely.
"Rotation"
The collection was first published in 1910. It also consists of several stories, namely: “Doors of the world”, “Theory and the dog”, “Girl”, “Victim out of place”, “Operetta and the quarter”, “Perspective”, etc. One of the films shot on motivated by short stories, called "Business People". It was released in 1962.
The Secret of O. Henry
Let's return to the biography of the writer. In prison, he had enough time to practice writing short stories. Finding a publisher that would agree to print a felon was impossible. He sent the manuscript to friends. Those, in turn, attributed the works of O. Henry to the publishing house. Editors for a long time did not know the name of the author, who in just a few years became one of the most widely read American writers.
After Willy was charged with embezzlement, Etol's parents took Margaret's granddaughter. Almost all the money he earned after his release went to the girl’s education. He did everything to ensure that others did not find out that she was the daughter of a criminal. Margaret studied at the best and most expensive institutions.
Almost all writers write under pseudonyms. But few hide their real name as thoroughly as William Porter did. This is not surprising, because in his biography there were facts that the then American society was perceived too negatively. Today, a former prisoner can write a novel, publish it. The criminal past will make it even more popular. At the beginning of the last century, everything was different.
O. Henry was shy of his past. One day, he said to one of his friends that he had buried William Sidney Porter. But forgetting the past is not so simple. The writer was found by his old acquaintance, who remembered him from the time when he was a modest pharmacist. She began to blackmail him. Porter began to drink more and more.
Towards the end of his life, the writer developed cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes. He married a sweet and simple woman named Salih Coleman, who put a lot of effort to discourage him from drinking. O. Henry died at the age of 47. The widow returned his real name by writing on the gravestone in one of Asheville’s cemeteries, "William Sydney Porter."