I have been a fan of Charles Dickens' writing most of my life. I didn't know much about his personal life and this probably wasn't the best source to find out that information because it offers exactly what it says: this is a book from Mr. Dolby's very biased perspective on a small period of time in Mr. Dickens' life. Not to say it is an inaccurate portrayal, but it is very limited in scope and many of the anecdotes included were in regards to administrative matters such as the amount of tickets sold and at what cost. Between conversion rates and this taking place 150 years ago, this made no sense to me. However, describing the lines for tickets and lengths people went to in order to obtain tickets to hear Dickens read was very relatable. My son got tired of me telling him that Dickens was the Victorian Taylor Swift! This was a very fascinating in depth look at the things Dickens did other than write so many classic books.