As Wikipedia says "not to be confused with 'O Henry!' the candy bar." William Henry Porter lived in Austin in the late 19th century in this house which is on East Fifth Street. It is now a museum run by the City of Austin Parks and Rec. He wrote "Gift of the Magi" as most people know. Some also know he wrote a lot of his stories in prison, hence the pen name. A modern "Gift of the Magi" might be a guy selling his Play Station to get his girl the workout game for her Wii and meanwhile she sells the Wii to get him Guitar Hero or Rock Star or something. [Disclaimer: I have no game console of any kind and am only vaguely aware of what this tradeoff would be. Old women should avoid trying to be amusing in this way, but I couldn't help myself.]
Thursday, July 31, 2008
O. Henry Museum
As Wikipedia says "not to be confused with 'O Henry!' the candy bar." William Henry Porter lived in Austin in the late 19th century in this house which is on East Fifth Street. It is now a museum run by the City of Austin Parks and Rec. He wrote "Gift of the Magi" as most people know. Some also know he wrote a lot of his stories in prison, hence the pen name. A modern "Gift of the Magi" might be a guy selling his Play Station to get his girl the workout game for her Wii and meanwhile she sells the Wii to get him Guitar Hero or Rock Star or something. [Disclaimer: I have no game console of any kind and am only vaguely aware of what this tradeoff would be. Old women should avoid trying to be amusing in this way, but I couldn't help myself.]
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Love your commentary on this!
ReplyDeleteI left Austin 20 years ago but while I was there the O Henry Museum hosted a writers group. I always thought that would be a great space for a writers group.