The Man Who Invented Manhattan

In the spring of 1902 a stocky blond Southerner who described himself as looking like a “healthy butcher” blew into New York City with a prison term behind him and a stupendous career ahead. In the next few years O. Henry would produce a spate of short stories that did more than make him famous; they so completely caught the mood and spirit of his adopted city that even today we see it through his eyes.