By O. Henry (William Sydney Porter)
I would buy this book if only for Gifts of the Magi and The Ransom of Red Chief. Gifts of the Magi is a Christmas story that does not lose its shimmer out of season. If you want to know what love is, true love, read Gifts of the Magi. And ANY exhausted and dispirited parent of any rambunctious and precocious ten-year-old must read The Ransom of Red Chief, if only to remind yourself, "I am not alone!" Lively story with a funny twist, it will leave you with that, "Yep. That's a boy!"
Of course, this is O. Henry so you can expect finely spun tales, three-dimensional characters, lively dialogue, intrigue, and enough switch backs to keep one alert and guessing. Such a unique style. Such a command of language.