Whirligigs, a collection of O. Henry's short stories published in 1910, features the popular story "The Ransom of Red Chief," about two men who kidnap a boy so impossible that soon they are offering to pay his parents to take him back. This story has been made into films and is often anthologized.

O. Henry: A Biography of William Sydney Porter. Written by David Stuart and published by Doubleday in 1987, this biography offers a recent look at O. Henry's life.

"The Open Window," from Saki's collection Beasts and Super-Beasts (1914), is a short story that features many of the characteristics common to O. Henry's work, including brevity and a surprise ending.

Ambrose Bierce's story "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," included in his collection Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891),isa suspenseful tale of a man's last moments before his hanging, ending with a...