About the book: year / One of the most famous humorists in world literature, O. Henry created a unique panorama of American life at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, conveyed grotesque situations contrasts and paradoxes of his era, which opened up space for people with business acumen, whom the play of chance either lifts to the pinnacle of success, or casts down to the very bottom of life. “At the risk of boring you, the author considers it his duty to preface this story about strong passions with an introduction of a geometric nature. Nature moves in a circle. Art is in a straight line. Everything natural is rounded, everything artificial is angular. A man lost in a snowstorm, without realizing it, describes circles; the legs of a city dweller, accustomed to rectangular rooms and squares, lead him in a straight line away from himself…»