One of the most famous humorists in world literature, O. Henry created a unique panorama of American life at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries, in grotesque situations, he conveyed the contrasts and paradoxes of his era, which opened up space for people with business acumen, whom the game of chance raises to the top of success, then throws to the very bottom of life. "Jeff Peters made money in a variety of ways. These methods he had no less than recipes for the manufacture of rice dishes from the inhabitants of Charleston, South Carolina. Most of all I like to listen to his stories about the days of his youth, when he was trading on the streets ointments and cough powders, lived hungry, was friends with the whole world and played the last bear with fate.