Ehud Havazelet: A Stick in the Wheel: An Examination of Gimmickry (January 2002)

Originally hidden devices grifters used to control the prize wheel, gimmicks, suggests Ehud Havazelet, are analogous to the craft devices all writers use. But what is the distinction between “mere trickery” and effective craft? How can ‘gimmicks’ strengthen rather than cheapen our writing? Havazelet considers these and other questions through close readings of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” Graham Greene’s “I Spy,” Ida Fink’s “The Key Game” and Alice Munro’s “Five Points.”