With East Side tenements, Wall Street offices, and Fifth Avenue as their backdrops, these colourful tales by a master storyteller recount the dreams and passions of New Yorkers at the turn of the 20th century. Thirty-three of O. Henry's best stories - including "The Gift of the Magi," "The Cop and the Anthem," and "The Furnished Room" - abound in wit, irony, and the author's trademark surprise endings. AUTHOR: William Sydney Porter (1862–1910) wrote more than 600 short stories under the pen name of O. Henry. Convicted of embezzlement from his employer (the First National Bank of Austin, Texas), he served three years of a five-year sentence, during which he wrote many of the tales that appear in this collection.