A series of stories which each explore some individual aspect of life in a paralytically sleepy Central American town while each advancing some aspect of the larger plot and relating back one to another in a complex structure which slowly explicates its own background even as it painstakingly erects a town which is one of the most detailed literary creations of the period.In this book, O. Henry coined the term &quot;banana republic&quot;.<br /><br />Set in a fictitious Central American country called the Republic of Anchuria, this is a classic tale that has been loved by many for generations, a great addition to the collection.<br /><br /><b>William Sydney Porter </b>(September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. O. Henry&#39;s short stories are known for their surprise endings.<br /><br />He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898.<br /><br /><b>PROEM</b> (excerpt)<br /><br />They will tell you in Anchuria, that President Miraflores, of that volatile republic, died by his own hand in the coast town of Coralio; that he had reached thus far in flight from the inconveniences of an imminent revolution; and that one hundred thousand dollars, government funds, which he carried with him in an American leather valise as a souvenir of his tempestuous administration, was never afterward recovered...<br /><br />It is characteristic of this buoyant people that they pursue no man beyond the grave. &quot;Let God be his judge!&quot;&mdash;Even with the hundred thousand unfound, though greatly coveted, the hue and cry went no further than that.<br /><br />To the stranger or the guest the people of Coralio will relate the story of the tragic end of their former president; how he strove to escape from the country with the public funds and also with Do&ntilde;a Isabel Guilbert, the young American opera singer; and how, being apprehended by members of the opposing political party in Coralio, he shot himself through the head rather than give up the funds, and, in consequence, the Se&ntilde;orita Guilbert. They will relate further that Do&ntilde;a Isabel, her adventurous bark of fortune shoaled by the simultaneous loss of her distinguished admirer and the souvenir hundred thousand, dropped anchor on this stagnant coast, awaiting a rising tide.<br /><br />They say, in Coralio, that she found a prompt and prosperous tide in the form of Frank Goodwin, an American resident of the town, an investor who had grown wealthy by dealing in the products of the country&mdash;a banana king, a rubber prince, a sarsaparilla, indigo, and mahogany baron...