THE ALICE BEHIND WONDERLAND

Narrating his own work, Simon Winchester explores the story behind the book ALICE IN WONDERLAND by looking at the photography of its author, Charles Dodgson. Winchester focuses on one particular photo of Alice Liddell, the girl who became Alice in the story. He finds clues and meanings in every detail of the photo, in which Alice poses in the costume of a gamine, as suggested by Dodgson. There's some biographical information on Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, but the theories Winchester develops around the old photo are less than fascinating, and listening to them, as opposed to reading them and looking at the photography, borders on pointless. The basics on the lives of Dodgson and Liddell are there, but listeners likely won't want to sit through the rest. J.A.S. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2011]