O. Henry’s Texas Short Stories by O. Henry (review)

164 Western American Literature in Michael Blackman’s “The Golden Shadows Old West Museum,” Doug Crowell’s “Work,” and Thomas Zigal’s “Curios.” The humor in all three is particularly moving because it intensifies rather than mutes the author’s depic­ tions of the poignantly human struggle to maintain an authentic identity in an increasingly bland and homogenized world. It is not too much to say that Prize Stories deserves numerous readings. DAVID A. CARPENTER Eastern Illinois University O. Henry’s Texas Short Stories. By O. Henry. Edited by Marian McClintock and Michael Simms. (Dallas: Still Point Press, 1986. 291 pages, $19.95.) With this new selection of O. Henry short stories we are again able to enjoy the O. Henry we know well, the one whose short stories have surprise endings, wonderful ironies, rascally tricksters, and playful language. In addition, by selecting only stories about Texas, the editors have provided us with an oppor­ tunity to see another facet of O. Henry’s talent, his ability to give us a realistic picture of a time and a place. W'eare given a view of life in a part of Texas little used for fiction, that part from Laredo to San Antonio, and more particularly that of the ranches along the Frio river. As we learn in the excellent foreword by Michael Simms, O. Henry knew the area well, having worked on a ranch there himself when he first arrived in Texas in 1881. Marian McClintock argues in her thoughtful introduction that O. Henry could write romances and still write realistically; even a casual reader of the stories will be struck by the accuracy of her conclusion. The dialogue itself would be a rich source for anyone wishing to know the manner of speaking of the cowboys of that area at that time—for example: “He can shore holler a plenty, and he straddles a hoss from where you laid the chunk, but he ain’t never been smoked yet.” The title of the collection suggests that all of O. Henry’s stories which are set in Texas are included, yet surprisingly one of the more interesting stories in Heart of the West, “Hearts and Crosses,” is not. DICK HEABERLIN Southwest Texas State University ...