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Elsie in New York and The Purple Dress by O. Henry

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Elsie in New York and The Purple Dress

Author
O. Henry
Publish Date
1 January 2006
Run Time
32 minutes
Format
Audiobook
$7.95

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What to expect

Two delightful tales by one of America’s favorite storytellers.

In “Elsie in New York,” Elsie is an innocent young woman who, upon the death of her father, must look for work to make a living. Her father expected her to trust to the goodheartedness of his previous employer, but Elsie prefers to make her own way in life. Although she visits an employment agency and applies for several positions, do-gooders interfere. Thinking they are saving her soul, in actuality they point her to her destruction.

In “The Purple Dress,” two young women clerks have been saving money all year to buy new dresses for the one gala of their year, the annual Thanksgiving dinner given by their employer. Both are hoping to catch the eye of one attractive gentleman bachelor at the party. But interactions with a landlady and a dressmaker intervene, and things turn out much differently than either girl could have imagined.

Critics Review

  • “The real charm of O. Henry’s tales lies not in his reversal of the narrative, but in the reversal of his characters’ character. In O. Henry’s world, establishment figures become boobs and rich men become dunces, while rogues become heroes and down-and-outers become gentlemen.”

    Coconut Telegraph

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Details

Author
O. Henry
Narrator
Susan McCarthy, David Thorn, Bobbie Frohman
Duration
32 minutes
Release Date
1 January 2006
ISBN
9781483081861
Format
Audiobook
Genre
Classic fiction, Satirical fiction and parodies

Synopsis

Two delightful tales by one of America’s favorite storytellers.In “Elsie in New York,” Elsie is an innocent young woman who, upon the death of her father, must look for work to make a living. Her father expected her to trust to the goodheartedness of his previous employer, but Elsie prefers to make her own way in life. Although she visits an employment agency and applies for several positions, do-gooders interfere. Thinking they are saving her soul, in actuality they point her to her destruction.In “The Purple Dress,” two young women clerks have been saving money all year to buy new dresses for the one gala of their year, the annual Thanksgiving dinner given by their employer. Both are hoping to catch the eye of one attractive gentleman bachelor at the party. But interactions with a landlady and a dressmaker intervene, and things turn out much differently than either girl could have imagined.

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