Pen name: O. Henry

Date of birth and death:1862.9.11-1910.6.5

A famous American writer of critical realism, one of the three great masters of short stories in the world.

Formerly known as William Sydney Porter, he is one of the most famous short story writers in America. He was once praised by critics as the Laureate Prose Writer in Manhattan and the father of modern American short stories. He comes from a family of doctors in Green Sboro, North Carolina, USA.

His life is full of legends. He worked as a pharmacy apprentice, cowherd, accountant, land bureau clerk, journalist and bank teller. When I was a bank teller, I left home and went into exile in Honduras in Central America in order to escape the trial. Later, he was arrested and imprisoned for going home to visit his dying wife and worked as a pharmacist in the prison infirmary. The reason why he created his first work was to buy a Christmas present for his daughter, but because the prisoner was afraid to use his real name, he used the name of the editor of a French Pharmacopoeia as a pseudonym. 190 1 After his early release, he moved to new york to specialize in writing.

O Henry is good at describing American society, especially the life of new york people. His works are novel in conception, humorous in language and often unexpected in ending. It is also called "Humorous Encyclopedia of American Life" because it describes many characters and is full of interest in life. His representative works include the collection of novels "Cabbage and the King", "Four Million" and "The Road to Destiny". Some of his famous works, such as Sacrifice of Love, Police and Hymns, Furnished Rooms for Rent, Gifts from Sages and The Last Vine, have won him world fame.

Famous sentence: "At this time, a supernatural feeling arises, thinking that life is composed of sobs, sniffles and smiles, and sniffles account for the vast majority." (Selected Short Stories by O 'Henry)