Cheap Rooms and Restless Hearts: A Study of Formula in the Urban Tales of William Sydney Porter
Cheap Rooms and Restless Hearts: A Study of Formula in the Urban Tales of William Sydney Porter
by Karen Charmaine Blansfield
University of Wisconsin Press, 1988 Cloth: 978-0-87972-420-7 | Paper: 978-0-87972-421-4 Library of Congress Classification PS2649.P5Z634 1988 Dewey Decimal Classification 813.52
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This book provides close look at the predominant character types and plot patterns found in the urban stories of William Sydney Porter (more familiarly known as O. Henry), analyzing how these elements structure his tales and contribute to his popular formulas. Blansfield also examines Porter’s adventurous but troubled background—as a ranch hand, cowboy, bank teller, journalist, prisoner, fugitive, and more—to see how his own experience shaped these aspects of his fiction. The book considers how the bustling, turbulent conditions of New York City at the turn of the century helped to launch Porter’s [O. Henry’s] meteoric career.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Karen Charmaine Blansfield is assistant professor of drama at the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
The Life and Times of William Sydney Porter
CHAPTER TWO
Porter and the Popular Tradition in Literature
CHAPTER THREE
Plot Patterns
CHAPTER FOUR
Character Types
CONCLUSION
NOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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