Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
The Gentle Grafter - cover

The Gentle Grafter

O. Henry

Publisher: Bu Classics Books

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Summary

Enter the world of charming rogues and silver-tongued con artists who navigate the fringes of society with wit and bravado. These stories follow the exploits of likable grifters who view the world as a playground for their elaborate schemes. While the stakes are often high, the tone remains lighthearted and filled with sharp social commentary. Discover the art of the hustle through the eyes of those who live by their wits alone.
Available since: 03/06/2026.
Print length: 176 pages.

Other books that might interest you

  • A Pen-and-Ink Effect - From their pens to your ears genius in every story - cover

    A Pen-and-Ink Effect - From...

    Frances E Huntley the writing...

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Ethel Colburn Mayne.
    Show book
  • DEDD Man Walking - cover

    DEDD Man Walking

    Jr. Eli Taff

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    In the shadows of our world, an invisible war rages—a war that most people will never see, fought by soldiers they will never know. D.E.D.D. Man Walking, the latest thrilling collection by Eli Taff Jr., plunges you deep into the dark, chilling universe of the Department of Extra-Dimensional Defense (D.E.D.D.). This elite black ops unit stands as humanity's last line of defense against nightmarish creatures and interdimensional horrors that slip through the cracks of reality. 
    From fog-shrouded fishing villages where massive, tentacled monstrosities rise from the depths, to remote Arctic outposts where ancient entities whisper through the ice, D.E.D.D. Man Walking delivers ten tightly-woven flash fiction stories that capture the intense, action-packed missions of Reaper Squad. Each story is a pulse-pounding, 500-word plunge into the unknown, where the strange and supernatural blend seamlessly with brutal, military realism. 
    For fans of military sci-fi horror and dark, supernatural thrillers, this collection is a must-read.  
    It's the Eli Taff Jr. masterfully combines the tactical precision of black ops action with the gut-wrenching terror of cosmic horror, creating an atmosphere that is both thrilling and unsettling. D.E.D.D. Man Walking captures the claustrophobic tension of works like The X-Files, Stranger Things, and The Thing, while also appealing to fans of Warhammer 40K and H.P. Lovecraft's mythos. 
    Prepare yourself for a journey into the shadows, where every flash of light reveals a new nightmare, and the line between reality and the unexplainable blurs. Welcome to D.E.D.D. Man Walking. Once you step into this world, there's no going back. 
     
    Show book
  • Top 10 Short Stories The - The 1920's - The Europeans - The ten best stories written from 1920-1929 by European authors - cover

    Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

    Mikhail Bulgakov, Franz Kafka, D...

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    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. 
     
    In this decade Europe is recovering from the Great War yet already the poisonous seeds for the next, even greater calamity, are taking root.  Our literary leviathans bring tales of pain and heartache, sorrow and humanity into every narrative.  Genius has many names. 
     
    1 - The Top 10 - The 1920's - The Europeans - An Introduction 
    2 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov 
    3 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka 
    4 - The Horse Dealer's Daughter by D H Lawrence 
    5 - Twilight Alley by Stefan Zweig 
    6 - The Tale Of The Stairs by Hristo Smirenski 
    7 - The Imbecile by Luigi Pirandello 
    8 - My First Goose by Isaac Babel 
    9 - The Loathly Opposite by John Buchan 
    10 - Vampire's Prey by Hanns Heinz Ewers 
    11 - Rhapsody by Dorothy Edwards
    Show book
  • Another Day Another Plot - A Vampire LitRPG Short Story - cover

    Another Day Another Plot - A...

    Tao Wong

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    It’s a long way down from the top.  
    In the world of Eternal Night, Johnathan Masters is at the top of his game. He’s worked hard to build up his influence, trading favours and playing politics. But when a Blood from another city arrives on the scene and attempts to cut into his business by increasing his own status, Johnathan is forced to defend his turf.  
    Maybe he’ll play nice. But then again, sometimes a bit of tough love sends the right message.  
    Another Day, Another Plot is the second work in Eternal Night, A Vampire LitRPG Short Story series, written by Tao Wong, author of the bestselling System Apocalypse and A Thousand Li series of books.
    Show book
  • A Lickpenny Lover - From their pens to your ears genius in every story - cover

    A Lickpenny Lover - From their...

    O Henry

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    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.
    Show book
  • Providence - cover

    Providence

    Steven Becker

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Revolution spreads along the Central American coast. Steam power is reshaping trade. Empires maneuver for control of the isthmus—and the sea lanes that feed it. 
    When a relic from a long-forgotten wreck surfaces, it brings documents never meant to be found. What was buried at sea now threatens fortunes and the fragile balance of power. 
    A routine recovery turns into a race across unstable ports and hostile waters. Civil war burns ashore. Armed vessels patrol offshore. In a world where merchants become privateers overnight, no flag guarantees safety. 
    Every harbor carries risk. Every alliance has a price. 
    High-seas action and political intrigue drive this installment of Tides of Fortune, where the tide can turn without warning—and survival favors the bold.
    Show book