Cabbages and Kings

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Cabbages and Kings is a 1904 novel written by O. Henry, set in a fictitious Central American country called the Republic of Anchuria.

It takes its title from the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter," featured in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. Its plot contains famous elements in the poem: shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings.

The novel contains various short stories, all of which occur in the "banana republic" of Anchuria, and are connected to each other. In fact, while Sidney Porter (aka O.Henry) wrote this mainly about the fruit companies in USA who were putting up puppet governments in Latin America to be able to grow these fruits, unrestricted by regulation, one can further extend the metaphor to other such enterprises world over. And that is where the true joy of reading this book comes in.

Each chapter tells you one part of the story - of a country called Anchuria, its dictator, and how he is replaced by another one "chosen by his people" in a "civic uprising" orchestrated by merchants funding this nationalist. All seen from the porch of a few foreign merchants, including the author (Sidney Porter wrote this while he was trying to escape charges of embezzlement from the USA - and this is what makes O.Henry himself such a colourful character)

A fairly well-knit collection of short stories, each displaying O. Henry's knack for concealing while he puts on a show. The book has a comic portrayal of the tropics, both its volatile political climate and its meteorological one. There is an over-arcing plot that runs through the stories, concerning the ruling potentate's abdication and sudden departure with the nation's treasury funds, creating a mystery that isn't solved until the final vignette.

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About the Author:

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings.

His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825-88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833-65). William's parents had married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died from tuberculosis, and he and his father moved into the home of his paternal grandmother. As a child, Porter was always reading, everything from classics to dime novels; his favorite works were Lane's translation of One Thousand and One Nights, and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy.

Porter traveled with Dr. James K. Hall to Texas in March 1882, hoping that a change of air would help alleviate a persistent cough he had developed. He took up residence on the sheep ranch of Richard Hall, James' son, in La Salle County and helped out as a shepherd, ranch hand, cook and baby-sitter. While on the ranch, he learned bits of Spanish and German from the mix of immigrant ranch hands. He also spent time reading classic literature.

Porter's most prolific writing period started in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be near his publishers. While there, he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote a story a week for over a year for the New York World Sunday Magazine. His wit, characterization, and plot twists were adored by his readers, but often panned by critics.

The O. Henry Award is a prestigious annual prize named after Porter and given to outstanding short stories.