Cheap Rooms and Restless Hearts

Study of Formula in the Urban Tales of William Sydney Porter

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by Karen Charmaine Blansfield

University of Wisconsin Press

Due/Published January 2005, 154 pages, paper

ISBN 0879724218

This book provides a close look at the character types and plot patterns found in the urban stories of William Sydney Porter (known as O. Henry), analyzing how these elements structure his tales and contribute to his popular formulas. Karen Charmaine Blansfield examines Porter's adventurous but troubled background--as a ranch hand, cowboy, bank teller, journalist, prisoner, fugitive, and more--to see how his experiences shaped these aspects of his fiction. She considers how the turbulent conditions of New York City at the turn of the century helped to launch O. Henry's meteoric career.