O. Henry knew a thing or two about dissembling: before being crowned the humour king of American letters, he did time for embezzlement. Many of his characters end up on the wrong side of the law. “Proof of the Pudding”, however, relates a fully legit transaction between its two protagonists: a magazine editor and a fiction writer who cannot agree on the question of style. “No human being ever uttered banal colloquialisms when confronted by sudden tragedy,” the editor claims. The writer counters that in such situations, “[t]hey talk naturally, and a little worse”.
To find out who is right, a cunning plan is concocted. Before it can be implemented, however, fate intervenes, as it often does in O. Henry’s stories. “My God, why hast Thou given me this cup to drink?” one of the characters exclaims in the finale. The other goes, “Ain’t it hell, now, Shack – ain’t it?” The truth of the matter is thus revealed, and no mistake.
Collected in 100 Selected Stories, Wordsworth Classics, 1995
A Personal Anthology 