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The Gift of the Magi
By O. Henry
Illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger
Simon & Schuster, 2006. Unpaginated.
It’s a pleasure to share the news that Simon & Schuster has returned to print this classic story by one of the masters of the short fiction genre, O. Henry. Though this text is easily found, the illustrated version published in 1982 by the great illustrator Lisbeth Zwerger provides easily its best presentation for families.
This is a sentimental and touching story, yes, of a young married couple who basically cannot find two nickels to scratch together, but each of whom makes an ironic sacrifice to provide the other with a Christmas gift. But O. Henry’s skill together with the absolute elegance of Zwerger’s watercolors takes the story to a new, even transcendent level. Zwerger places the figures of Della and Jim outside the center of each of her paintings, a strategy that has the effect of making them more dear for the fact that they are poor, and marginal to society. They take actions, however, that demonstrate that they are central to each other, and in giving so selflessly they carry on the tradition of the magi and their gifts to the infant Jesus. This version of O. Henry’s little fable is highly recommended.
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