The Call of the Tame

"All right. I suppose you think I'm spoiled by the city. I'm as good a Westerner as you are, Greenbrier; but, somehow, I can't make up my mind to go back out there. New York is comfortable - comfortable. I make a good living, and I love it. No more wet blankets and riding herd in snowstorms, and bacon and cold coffee, and blowouts once in six months for me." An Arizona cowboy on a short visit to New York finds himself rubbing shoulders with an old friend- but finds the man deeply changed by his seven years living in the Big Apple.
Can he convert him back to his old ways without alarming too many fellow New Yorkers? American short story master O. Henry is best known for his pithy, witty scores and surprise endings. In doing so he made commonplace experiences extraordinary and memorable. His work has been immortalised in the popular 1952 film 'O. Henry's Full House' starring Fred Allen, Anne Baxter, Marilyn Monroe and Jeanne Crain.
William Sidney Porter (1862-1919), known simply as O. Henry, was a prolific American author of humorous literary pieces. His fame came exceptionally quickly and he became a bestselling author of short story collections. Perhaps the most famous of these are, 'Cabbages and Kings, ' 'The Voice of the City' and 'Strictly Business.' The immensity of O. Henry's impact on the American short story genre for time to come is evidenced by the fact an annual award in his name is given out each year in the United States.
O. Henry's work is a must read for fans of Hemingway, Guy de Maupassant and Anton Chekhov.