Readings and discussions of classic short stories and essays.

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Tim and Nicholas read a final grouping of three O.Henry stories - &#34;Confessions of a Humorist,&#34; &#34;The Duplicity of Hargraves,&#34; and &#34;The Last Leaf.&#34; These stories all concern the role of the artist in relation to other people, in very different settings and ways.We discuss the works, using these as a springboard to consider O. Henry&#39;s notion of the artist, which is arguably central to the personality of the author.

6.  O. Henry - "The Role of the Artist"

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Nicholas reads one of O. Henry&#39;s longest (and most unusual) stories, which happened to be a favorite of the author himself. &#34;Roads of Destiny&#34; is a kind of romantic-modernist triptych with three alternative story-lines following (roughly) the same cast of characters in Renaissance or early modern France.We then discuss, considering this work as a kind of &#34;road-not-taken&#34; (i.e., O. Henry as an author of &#34;serious&#34; fiction), and also as an interesting experimental work in its own right.

5.  O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 2)"

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Tim and Nicholas read two longish O. Henry stories - &#34;A Municipal Report&#34; and &#34;Proof of the Pudding&#34; - which both concern struggling authors, and which we have therefore categorized as (self-consciously) &#34;literary.&#34;We then discuss these works.

4. O. Henry - "Literary Stories (part 1)"

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Nicholas and Tim again take turns reading four more of the very short stories of which O. Henry published so many - &#34;The Cop and the Anthem,&#34; &#34;The Furnished Room,&#34; &#34; An Unfinished Story,&#34; and &#34;The Pendulum.&#34; These are all centered on &#34;domestic&#34; themes.We then discuss, using these New York works as a springboard to cover the last eight years of O.Henry&#39;s life, in his adopted city.

3.  O. Henry - "The Varieties of Domestic Experience"

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Tim and Nicholas read two longer Western stories, &#34;The Cabellero&#39;s Way&#34; (about a bandit, the lawman who pursues him, and the woman in both their lives), and &#34;Friends in San Rosario&#34; (about a Western bank being &#34;examined&#34; by an uptight government regulator).Nicholas and Tim then discuss, using these works as a springboard to give a thumbnail-sketch of the earlier part of the life of the author.

2.  O. Henry - "Stories of the Wild West"

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Nicholas and Tim take turns reading four of O. Henry&#39;s signature very short stories with a &#34;twist&#34; ending: &#34;The Social Triangle,&#34; &#34;The Love Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein,&#34; &#34;The Gift of the Magi,&#34; and &#34;While the Auto Waits.&#34; All concern life and class relations (conceived broadly) in turn-of-the-century New York City.Nicholas and Tim then discuss these works, after first grappling with O. Henry&#39;s overall place in literature.

1.  O. Henry - "The O. Henry Twist"

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Nicholas finishes reading the last part of the story &#34;Lights&#34;, and then discusses the work with Tim

4b.  Chekhov - "Lights" (last part of story, and discussion)

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Nicholas reads most of one of Chekhov&#39;s longer stories - &#34;Lights&#34; - about the conflicted recollections of a railway engineer, and his relations in a potential love affair, and possibly more generally about youthful consciousness. (Reading continues in a second file, since the story takes more than an hour to read.)

4a.  Chekhov - "Lights" (first part)

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Nicholas reads Chekhov&#39;s last finished story - &#34;Betrothed&#34; - about a woman who radically upends her life by changing her marriage plans at a late date.Nicholas and Tim discuss.

3.  Chekhov - "Betrothed" (or, "The Bride")

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Nicholas reads two medium-length Chekhov stories, both centering on female protagonists, &#34;The Princess&#34; (about a self-deluded aristocrat who imagines herself a philanthropist) and &#34;The Darling&#34; (about a woman who lives exclusively through her important relationships).Nicholas and Tim discuss the works.

2.  Chekhov - "The Princess" / "The Darling"

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Nicholas reads two of Chekhov&#39;s early short stories from the 1880&#39;s, &#34;The Bet&#34; (a darkly humorous tale) and &#34;Oh! The Public&#34; (a raucous satire).Nicholas and Tim discuss these pieces, with an overview of Chekhov&#39;s place in the history of the short story more generally.

1.  Chekhov - "The Bet" / "Oh! The Public"

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Tim reads a final selection from &#34;Sketches by Boz&#34; - a long, humorous account of a threatened duel.Tim and Nicholas discuss.

4. Dickens - "The Great WInglebury Duel"

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Tim reads two more from the &#34;Boz&#34; collection, a humorous satire of a fastidious bachelor with fortune-hunting relatives, and a proto-horror story.Tim and Nicholas discuss.

3. Dickens - "Mr Minns and his Cousin" / "The Black Veil"

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Tim reads one of the best known (and longest) of the &#34;Boz&#34; collection, an account of a visit to London&#39;s notorious Newgate Prison.Tim and Nicholas discuss.

2. DIckens - "A Visit to Newgate"

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Tim reads three of DIckens by shorter &#34;Scenes&#34; - one of the categories of his early work _Sketches by Boz_ (serialized 1833-1836) - a collection of works that form a kind of precursor to the modern short story.Tim and NIcholas then discuss these short works.

1. Dickens - "The Streets" /  "Gin Shops" / "Seven Dials" from _Sketches by Boz_

Readings and discussions of classic short stories and essays.