In this entertaining collection of literary anecdotage, based on the popular Sunday Telegraph column, Gary Dexter reveals the intriguing stories behind some of history's most celebrated books. Here we learn the real reasons for such unusual pieces of nomenclature as Douglas Coupland's Generation X, Ian Fleming's Goldfinger, Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest and Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. (This last was originally titled Alice's Adventures Underground, but changed due to the publisher's worry that potential buyers would think it was about child labour in the mines.) Full to the brim with myth-busting tidbits for the bookish boffin and throwing light into many unexplored corners of literary history, this is a must-have for bibliophiles and aspiring writers young, middling and old. AUTHOR: Gary Dexter is a newspaper columnist and author who writes for the Spectator, the Times, the Guardian and the Sunday Telegraph. SELLING POINTS: ? Supported by advertising in the Sunday Telegraph ? Dexter is a celebrated humorist and writer about books ? Widespread review and media coverage anticipated REVIEWS: ?Dexter's gift is not only to uncover the stories behind the titles, but actually to shed light on the mysteries of literary creation' - Guardian