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JC Elkins O. Henry Literary Discussion Group

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JC Elkins O. Henry Literary Discussion Group

A monthly reading (and discussion) group focused on the short stories of William Sydney Porter (O.

06/19/2025

Incredibly, wild and boisterous things he did. He sang, he told stories that set all but one shrieking, he played the yokel, the humorous clodhopper; he was mad, mad with the revival of the old life in his blood.
- O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

06/16/2025

Tom understood the invitation and accepted it with delight. Three times they wrestled on the grass, "side holds," even as the giants of the mat. And twice was Tom forced to bite grass at the hands of the distinguished lawyer. Dishevelled, panting, each still boasting of his own prowess, they stumbled back to the porch.
- O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

06/14/2025

After a brief wedding tour abroad, the couple returned to create a decided ripple in the calm cistern (so placid and cool and sunless it is) of the best society. They entertained at their red brick mausoleum of ancient greatness in an old square that is a cemetery of crumbled glory. And Robert Walmsley was proud of his wife; although while one of his hands shook his guests' the other held tightly to his alpenstock and thermometer.
- O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

06/10/2025

He turned handsprings on the grass that prodded Tom to envious sarcasm. And then, with a whoop, he clattered to the rear and brought back Uncle Ike, a battered colored retainer of the family, with his banjo, and strewed sand on the porch and danced "Chicken in the Bread Tray" and did buck-and-wing wonders for half an hour longer.
-O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

06/07/2025

One day Alicia found a letter written to Robert by his mother. It was an unerudite letter, full of crops and motherly love and farm notes. It chronicled the health of the pig and the recent red calf, and asked concerning Robert's in return. It was a letter direct from the soil, straight from home, full of biographies of bees, tales of turnips, pæans of new-laid eggs, neglected parents and the slump in dried apples.
-O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

05/31/2025

Robert Walmsley's descent upon the city resulted in a Kilkenny struggle. He came out of the fight victor by a fortune and a reputation. On the other band, he was swallowed up by the city. The city gave him what he demanded and then branded him with its brand.
- O. Henry, The Defeat of the City

Kilkenny is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland, located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. Kilkenny's architectural heritage is represented through a number of historical buildings and landmarks. Kilkenny is a well-preserved medieval town exemplified by both Kilkenny Castle and St. Canice's Cathedral and round tower.

The Defeat of the City
Friday June 20, 2025 1 PM CDT
O. Henry Museum

05/11/2025

“One afternoon when we were busiest and I was stuffing the two and ones into cigar boxes and Andy was whistling ‘No Wedding Bells for Her’ a small slick man drops in and runs his eye over the walls like he was on the trail of a lost Gainesborough painting or two. As soon as I saw him I felt a glow of pride, because we were running our business on the level."
- O. Henry, The Exact Science of Matrimony

“No Wedding Bells for Her” was an 1898 American song composed by James W. Casey with lyrics by George A. Norton (Sung in Daniel Frohman's Production of "The Tree of Knowledge" by Miriam
Nesbit).

The Exact Science of Matrimony
Monday May 12, 2025 11 AM CDT
Flower Hill Center

05/08/2025

“‘So far, so pernicious,’ says I, when we had finished the literary concoction. ‘And now,’ says I, ‘where is the lady.’
“Andy gives me one of his looks of calm irritation.
“‘Jeff,’ says he, ‘I thought you had lost them ideas of realism in your art. Why should there be a lady? When they sell a lot of watered stock on Wall Street would you expect to find a mermaid in it? What has a matrimonial ad got to do with a lady?’
- O. Henry, The Exact Science of Matrimony

Watered stock is an asset with an artificially-inflated value. The term most commonly refers to a form of securities fraud in which a company issues stock to someone before receiving at least the par value in payment. Stock watering was prevalent in the 19th century rail industry in the United States.

The Exact Science of Matrimony
Monday May 12, 2025 11 AM CDT
Flower Hill Center

05/05/2025

“‘Wouldn’t you like to go down and meet Mrs. Trotter once before we leave?’ I asks him. ‘She’d like mightily to know you and express her encomiums and gratitude.’
“‘Why, I guess not,’ says Andy. ‘I guess we’d better hurry and catch that train.’ “I was strapping our capital around me in a memory belt like we always carried it, when Andy pulls a roll of large bills out of his pocket and asks me to put ’em with the rest.
“‘What’s this?’ says I.
- O. Henry, The Exact Science of Matrimony

The Exact Science of Matrimony
Monday May 12, 2025 11 AM CDT
Flower Hill Center

05/03/2025

“When I got there I found her crying like a kid that don’t want to go to school. “‘Now, now,’ says I, ‘what’s it all about? Somebody sassed you or you getting homesick?’
“‘No, Mr. Peters,’ says she. ‘I’ll tell you. You was always a friend of Zeke’s, and I don’t mind. Mr. Peters, I’m in love. I just love a man so hard I can’t bear not to get him. He’s just the ideal I’ve always had in mind.’
- O. Henry, The Exact Science of Matrimony

The Exact Science of Matrimony
Monday May 12, 2025 11 AM CDT
Flower Hill Center

05/01/2025

“We placed $2,000 in a bank to Mrs. Trotter’s credit and gave her the book to show in case anybody might question the honesty and good faith of the agency. I knew Mrs. Trotter was square and reliable and it was safe to leave it in her name.
“With that one ad Andy and me put in twelve hours a day answering letters.
“About one hundred a day was what came in. I never knew there was so many large hearted but indigent men in the country who were willing to acquire a charming widow and assume the burden of investing her money.
- O. Henry, The Exact Science of Matrimony

The Exact Science of Matrimony
Monday May 12, 2025 11 AM CDT
Flower Hill Center

04/27/2025

The first issue of the newspaper The Rolling Stone was published by William Sydney Porter on Saturday, April 28, 1894, as Volume 1, Number 3. Subscription rates for the Rolling Stone were just $1.50 per year! Though popular, the newspaper was short-lived with the final issue appearing on April 27, 1895.

Image courtesy of Project Gutenberg.

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