Audio only
Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking
And Other Collected Short StoriesBy O. HenryNarrated by John RayburnLength6h 6m
About this audiobook
William Sydney Porter had an unusual personal history. He got a job as a teller and bookkeeper at a Texas bank when he was twenty-nine. He did what could be called some careless bookkeeping, and it appeared he may have embezzled some funds. No charges were made until about four years later when an audit found the previous shortages, and he was arrested. Bail was posted by his father-in-law, and Porter headed out to unknown places, living in Honduras for a while. When he returned to the states, he was indicted and sent to prison. It was there his talents ripened for writing creative short stories that featured a lot of twists and turns with surprise endings and a lot of witty narration; he actually wrote more than a dozen tales while behind bars.
From that writing while incarcerated he decided this is what he would like to do, and the decision led to 381 short stories over the years. He saw the name Henry in a newspaper society column, and that was also the last name of one of the prison guards he’d had. One or the other, perhaps a combination, led to him using it as a pen name. He felt he had to have one because publishers would be leery of using his material due of his lurid background.
In spite of the checkered past, he wound up with a very respectable reputation, and there’s a road in his birthplace, Greensboro, North Carolina, named O. Henry Boulevard, overlooking his misdeeds of the past. He was a heavy drinker, and the habit led to death at the early age of 47.
We begin with a story published in McClure’s magazine, December 1899. This was the first story published under the pseudonym O. Henry. Let’s listen.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 3.5 (42)
Includes Goodreads
GenreGeneral Fiction, Literary Classics
Length6 hrs 6 mins
Narrated byJohn Rayburn
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateDec 11, 2021
LanguageEnglish
More from O. Henry
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
These Precious DaysAnn Patchett11h 14m4.5 (45.2K)$29 · $0.00
Henry V (The Play, Historical Background and Analysis of the Character in the Play)William Shakespeare, William Hazlitt8h 50m4.6 (1.3K)$1.99 · $0.00
H. P. LOVECRAFT Ultimate Collection: Novellas, Short Stories, Poetry & Essays (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft12h 28m4.6 (2.3K)$2 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust16h 8m4.5 (10.6K)$1.99 · $0.00
Lessons in TruthH. Emilie3h 50m4.6 (1.4K)$4.70 · $0.00
TORAH - Bilingual Edition: English/Hebrew (Annotated)Max Margolis, JPS28h 26m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
Betty Crocker picture cooky bookBetty Crocker, Inc. General Mills2h 13m4.5 (6.5K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Tales of Beatrix PotterBeatrix Potter3h 36m4.5 (75K)$3 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesL. M. Montgomery11h 1m4.5 (1.2M)$2.30 · $0.00
Crime and Punishment (The Unabridged Garnett Translation) (Annotated)Fyodor Dostoevsky24h 25m4.5 (15.4K)$1.99 · $0.00
The North American IndianEdward S. Curtis, Frederick Webb Hodge6h4.5 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
Grimoire Of The Everyday WitchIsadora Lys / Virginia Santos5h 35m4.5 (3.9K)$9 · $0.00
Winnie-the-PoohAlan Alexander Milne2h 52m4.5 (401.1K)$3 · $0.00
Sitting PrettyRebekah Taussig7h 33m4.5 (18.9K)$26 · $0.00
The Poetic Edda & The Prose EddaSnorri Sturluson, Saemund Sigfusson9h 34m4.5 (4K)$1 · $0.00
The Complete Satires & Essays of Mark Twain (Annotated)Mark Twain23h 21m4.5 (1.1K)$2 · $0.00
Anne of Green GablesLucy Maud Montgomery11h 10m4.4 (1.3M)$8 · $0.00
The Posthumous Memoirs Of Brás CubasMachado De Assis7h 39m4.4 (120.4K)$5 · $0.00
You may also like
The Secret SharerJoseph Conrad1h 46m3.8 (10.3K)$0.60 · $0.00
The True Adventures of the Rolling StonesStanley Booth17h 44m4.1 (2.9K)$20
PapillonHenri Charriere18h 19m4.3 (90.2K)$40 · $0.00
Mob Rule in New OrleansIda B. Wells-Barnett2h 18m4.3 (382)$2 · $0.00
ClintShawn Levy21h 9m4.1 (559)$8 · $0.00
Forty Lashes Less OneElmore Leonard6h 39m4.0 (5.7K)$24 · $0.00
The Robbers' Cave: A Tale of ItalyCharlotte Maria Tucker5h 3m4.4 (362)$1 · $0.00
The Border Legion (Western Classic)Zane Grey10h 33m4.0 (1.2K)$2 · $0.00
HombreElmore Leonard4h 21m4.1 (7.2K)$20 · $0.00
The FuriesElizabeth Flock12h 6m4.0 (1.3K)$8 · $0.00
12 Years A SlaveSolomon Northup10h 15m4.3 (308.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Diamond DorisDoris Payne6h 50m3.8 (2.6K)$24 · $0.00
Jim DavisJohn Masefield5h 50m3.9 (1.5K)$1.99 · $0.00
The WildlandsAbby Geni12h 12m4.1 (2.1K)$23 · $0.00
Victory: An Island TaleJoseph Conrad14h 6m3.9 (6.9K)$2 · $0.00
Crime and PunishmentFyodor Dostoyevsky14m4.4 (1.3M)$14 · $0.00
The Mutiny of the Elsinore (Annotated)Jack London12h 27m4.0 (648)$1.20 · $0.00
Full ThrottleRobert Edelstein11h 52m4.5 (85)$23 · $0.00
Fierce Females of FictionKenny Abdo16m$2
Linda Carlton's Island AdventureEdith Lavell5h 28m4.0 (10)$1 · $0.00