The Heart of the West

The idea of the Great American Novel has ignited debate for generations, but this only covers part of America's literary landscape. To gain a more comprehensive picture, we must look at the Great American Short Story and the masters of this medium — writers like Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O'Connor, and the great O. Henry. 

The life of William Sidney Porter was a short and troubled one, but, writing under the O. Henry pseudonym, Porter was able to provide us with a wealth of superlative short fiction and a body of work that is still loved to this day.

Some of that work is collected here in Heart of the West. This anthology of 19 stories focuses on the American West and the romance and intrigue of the United States on the cusp of the 20th century. On a more fundamental level, the book hones in on the life and humanity of the people who called that tough land home, delivering us tragedy and humor in almost equal measure. For long-standing fans of O. Henry's work and those in search of an entry point into the prolific writer's canon, Heart of the West is an evocative collection.