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  After Twenty years - From their...

  O Henry

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  William Sydney Porter was born on 11th September 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. At age 3 his mother died from tuberculosis. From an early age it was clear Porter had a large appetite for reading as he absorbed the world around him. 
  He first attended at a school run by his aunt before enrolling at the Lindsey Street High School and then worked at his uncle’s drugstore and gained a pharmacists’ license in 1881.  
  A persistent cough took him to Texas in the hope that a change of climate would help his symptoms. He took on various types of work, initially from ranch hand and cook and then as varied as pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began to write, though for now, purely as a hobby. 
  He was a member of several singing and dramatic groups when he met 17 year old Athol Estes, daughter of a wealthy Austin family. Despite her mother’s objection owing to Athol’s tuberculosis, they began courting and in July 1887, they eloped and soon married. 
  Athol, impressed by his writing, encouraged him to get them published. A job as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office paid a healthy $100 dollars per month and life was good. 
  But then life turned cruel. His son died a few hours after birth although a daughter, Margaret, came the following year.  His job had to be vacated but another was found at the First National Bank of Austin. The bank operated informally and Porter was careless in keeping the books. He lost that job but began writing for the humourous weekly The Rolling Stone and the Houston Post. Some time later the federal Bank auditors went through his former accounts and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. 
  Porter fled the day before his trial to Honduras. Holed up for several months he began to write.  Athol had become too ill to travel to meet him and learning that her health was deteriorating he surrendered to the court in February 1897.  Bail was obtained so that he could stay with Athol during her final days.  
  Porter was sentenced to five years at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. His pharmacy qualifications got him the job of night druggist.  His sentence also gave him time to write and publish fourteen short stories. In December 1899 in McClure’s Magazine he published a short story as O Henry.  
  He was released two years early in July 1901, and reunited with Margaret, now 11, in Pittsburgh.  He now began his most prolific period of writing; a short story per week for the New York World, while also publishing works in other magazines.  Eventually over 600 of his short stories were published. 
  Porter was a heavy drinker and in 1908 his health, which had deteriorated for several years, took a dramatic turn for the worse, as did his writing. 
  O Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver complicated by diabetes and an enlarged heart on 5th June 1910.<

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  Anne of Avonlea

  Lucy Maud Montgomery

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  When twelve-year-old Anne Shirley came to Avonlea, she quickly won everyone's heart. Now, she's five years older, almost a woman, and about to embark on a new adventure: becoming the teacher in her old Avonlea school. It's an exciting year as Anne struggles to win over all her students, welcomes two new members to her family, and feels the first stirrings of love.

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  The Monkey's Paw

  W. W. Jacobs

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  The Monkey’s Paw is a classic horror tale that gives new meaning to the phrase “Be careful what you wish for.” 
  When the White family comes into the possession of a monkey’s paw that magically grant wishes, They do what many people would do—They wish. But every thing has a consequence, and the White family finds they are completely unprepared for what comes next.  
  The Monkey’s Paw has become a classic horror story and has been adapted numerous times, including into episodes of such popular television series as The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and Tales from the Crypt.

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  Alice Adams

  Booth Tarkington

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  "Alice Adams" is a novel written by Booth Tarkington and published in 1921. This captivating work received the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for the Novel1. Let's explore the world of Alice Adams:    Plot Summary:  The story revolves around the character of Alice Adams, a young woman with aspirations to climb the social ladder.  Set in a lower-middle-class household in an unnamed Midwest town shortly after World War I, the narrative follows Alice's journey.  She longs to win the affections of the wealthy young man Arthur Russell.  The novel delves into themes of social status, love, and personal transformation.  Key Moments:  Alice's attempts to fit in with the upper class lead to both humorous and poignant situations.  Her interactions with Arthur Russell become central to the plot.  The dance scene, where Alice faces embarrassment and tries to maintain appearances, highlights her struggle.  Adaptations:  Film Versions: "Alice Adams" was adapted into films in 1923 by Rowland V. Lee and more famously in 1935 by George Stevens.  Pulitzer Prize: The novel's recognition with the Pulitzer Prize solidified its place in literary history.  "Alice Adams" captures the complexities of social mobility and the human desire for acceptance. "

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  The Top 10 Short Stories – The...

  James Joyce, D H Lawrence, Franz...

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  From realism, to horror, to entirely new genres, authors in this Century sparkle with wit and purpose as they drive literature forward in expansive and pulsating new ways reflecting the harnessing of their talents to the bewildering changes in society.    
   
  1 - The Top 10 - The 20th Century - The Men - An Introduction 
  2 - The Dead - Part 1 by James Joyce 
  3 - The Dead - Part 2 by James Joyce 
  4 - The Rocking Horse Winner by D H Lawrence 
  5 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka 
  6 - The Gift of the Magi by O Henry 
  7 - The Interlopers by Saki the pseudonym for H H Munro 
  8 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov 
  9 - To Build a Fire by Jack London 
  10 - War by Luigi Pirandello 
  11 - The Color Out of Space by H P Lovecraft 
  12 - Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad by M R James

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  Where Angels Fear to Tread

  E. M. Forster

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  When the young English widow Lilia Herriton takes off on the grand tour and along the way marries a penniless Italian, her in-laws are far from amused. That the marriage should fail and poor Lilia die tragically are only to be expected.
  
  But that Lilia should have had a baby - and that the baby should be raised as an Italian - are matters of grave concern to Philip Herriton, his dour sister Harriet, and their well-meaning friend Miss Abbott.
  
  E.M. Forster (born January 1, 1879, London) was a British novelist, essayist, and social and literary critic. He is most renowned and admired for his novels Howards End (1910), A Passage to India (1924), and his large body of criticism.

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