My Tussle with the Devil and Other Stories

My Tussle with the Devil and Other Stories

Short Story Collection

This short story collection is enclosed within a dark teal hard cover with gold embossed print. This text claims its author is O. Henry's Ghost, suggesting the inspiration the author has from O. Henry. While the author's real name is never included in the actual text, the library has included a card that states the author's name as William Sydney Porter, the real name of author O. Henry, although the real author have been noted as Albert Houghton Pratt. This lack of noted author makes this text appealing to readers who want to discover what exactly O. Henry's Ghost would write from the afterlife, as well as also truly portraying the book as something the ghost channeled to the author. This suggests that, at this time, authorship did not necessarily credit the person who did the physical writing, but rather the person who created the ideas. Writers and readers in 1918 were most likely fascinated by the thought of a well-known author continuing his work from the afterlife with the help of a human in the physical world.

This sense of unknown and paranormal activity continues with the ominous illustration in the book. The only illustration throughout the entire book is a set of gold wings, which are found on both the front cover and at the end of the respective stories and scattered poems throughout the work. These wings might possibly symbolize the wings that an angel or a ghost might have, which is fitting for the type of stories found within. Most of the text is short stories and small poems, which is the typical style that O. Henry wrote in while he was alive. The stories also focus on the themes of death, the afterlife, and the traits that people should place importance on, like kindness and love.

The text begins by describing how the author came to know what O. Henry's Ghost wanted, which is interesting to understand in order to gauge why this book was written in the first place and why the specific content was put in it. Most of the stories inside can be considered spirit writings, which is appropriate considering the motivation behind the book, which was to honor O. Henry and his work by attempting to continue its creation 8 years after the death of O. Henry. This book could appeal to audiences both interested in the genre of spirit writing and the afterlife, but also those who are fans of O. Henry and can appreciate stories written from a fan of his work personifying him. This also shows the new fascination at the time with autobiography, which helped the author create an accurate depiction of O. Henry's authorial style and personality. A.H. Pratt also immediately addresses skeptics of the text, and claims that if the reader finds the texts to be a different style of writing from what they are used to from O. Henry, it is because O. Henry's writing has matured in the afterlife, and he wants to share this with the living.

O. Henry's Ghost

Manhattan College, Fales Collection

New York: I. M. Y. Company

1918

Inspired by O. Henry

I. M. Y. Company

Octavo, 197

English

Short Story Collection, Fiction