O. Henry wove several stories together into this highly episodic narrative, taking his title
and inspiration from Lewis Carroll's ballad of the walrus and the carpenter in Alice in Wonderland.

The stories are set in the fictional country of Anchuria in Central America, a banana republic where larceny
is rampant and revolution lurking in every impoverished back alley. O. Henry offers a cutting satire of
contemporary politics and prejudices. Nevertheless, an essential middle-class morality prevails, in which
lovers are reunited, poverty obliterated, character rewarded, and sentiment satisfied.

Lloyd James hails from the Midwest. He received a B.A. in theater from a small liberal-arts college in New Mexico. He acts in the theater when his schedule permits and spends much of his free time working in his garden. He lives in Virginia with his wife and son.