The four million (O. Henry)

This anthology contains 25 tales of old New York city at the dawn of the 20th century. A collection of O. Henry’s short stories bearing his trademark irony, comic misunderstandings, and surprise endings. They also capture his use of coincidence or chance to create humor in the story. O. Henry wrote about ordinary people in everyday circumstances. The true hero of „The Four Million” is the city of New York, with its energy, compassion and kaleidoscope of human emotions. O. Henry focuses his curious microscope on the diverse lives of various residents of this metropolis. A few protagonists claim idle-rich status, but most represent the middle class or poverty-stricken milieus. He is quoted as once saying, „There are stories in everything. I’ve got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts and newspaper stands”.