The Four Million

When a society figure claimed that only four hundred people in New York really mattered, O. Henry answered with this collection about the other four million: shop girls, clerks, waiters, tramps and lonely people in rented rooms. It contains twenty-five stories, among them 'The Gift of the Magi', in which a poor young couple each sell their dearest possession to buy the other a Christmas present; 'The Cop and the Anthem', about a tramp who tries to get himself arrested so as to spend the winter in prison; and 'The Furnished Room', 'The Green Door' and 'Mammon and the Archer'.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862–1910), who began writing stories while serving a prison sentence for embezzlement. Published in 1906, this was his first great success, and his warm humour and famous twist endings made him the most popular short story writer in America. A separate edition of The Gift of the Magi is also in the library.