Reading the150 year old novel, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” has made me consider why some pieces of literature find fame and stand the test of time. While other, perhaps better pieces, fail to yield a lasting readership. Consider how much the world has changed since Carroll wrote “Wonderland,” yet modern children continue to enjoy his charming story. Carroll followed some literary rules on character, plot and conflict that have become standard in storytelling. Alice is a fantastic protagonist, both identifiable and unique at the same time. Her supporting cast is so memorable that they have become icons in their own right. Carroll starts the action and establishes a conflict within the first two pages, a must in today’s fast paced world. But how did the novel gain enough initial popularity to stay in print and become a classic. In modern terms, how did “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” go viral? There was certainly no Oprah’s Book Club or Amazon.com or best seller list to point readers to Carroll’s debut novel. 
I imagine those 2,000 copies in the first printing being passed hand-to-hand , house-to-house around London in 1863. In my experience, the books that are passed from one hand to the next are always the best. I can trace some of my favorite reads back to some of my favorite people. Karen P. told me countless times to read Diana Gabaldon’s “Outlander” before I took the plunge and didn’t resurface until I’d devoured all six volumes in the series. And my sister-in-law Becky passed “The Glass Castle” to me, which I found intriguing that I read it a second time with my neighborhood book club.
Clearly, stories going viral is an age-old phenomena. Before humans had written language, the history of oral storytelling was surely ruled by the storytellers. Each one sharing the most crowd pleasing tales again and again in hopes of receiving a meal or a tip or an enhanced reputation as the best storyteller in town.
All this thought about how and why novels go viral has given me an idea for a weekly post – Viral Vendnesday – a day for sharing a novel or a nail polish or a nice recipe that is worthy of a viral event. For my first infection, I want to offer a novel I read last November. “The Confessions of Max Tivoli” by Andrew Sean Greer made the little reader in my heart sing for weeks. Greer takes the seed planted by F. Scott Fitzgerald in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons” and creates his own exploration of what happens when a man is born old and grows young. The thought tickling idea of youth in an elderly body and wisdom in a young form kept me thinking about Max Tivoli long after I’d read the last, heartbreaking page. The emotion Greer brings to a life that is turned upside down makes this a novel I would like to see spread like a virus.
