The more than 600 stories written by O. Henry provided an embarrassment of riches for the compilers of this volume. The final selection of the ten stories in this collection offers for the reader's delight those tales honored almost unanimously by anthologists and those that represent, in variety and balance, the best work of America's favorite storyteller. They are tales in his most mellow, humorous, and ironic moods. They give the full range and flavor of the man born William Sydney Porter but known throughout the world as O. Henry, one of the great masters of the short story. The Best Short Stories of O. Henry: The Gift of the Magi The Romance of a Busy Broker Transients in Arcadia A Cosmopolite in a Cafe The Ransom of Red Chief A Lickpenny Lover A Blackjack Bargainer The Voice of the City The Pimienta Pancakes The Last Leaf