When life gives you lemons, as the saying goes, make lemonade.

Ben Yagoda’s lemon was that he wanted to write a biography about O. Henry. Upon learning that a great one had been done already, his lemonade was converting his project into historical fiction.

Yagoda, who has published several books on language and journalism, does a commendable job in his first novel. The research and attention to detail as he describes New York City in the very early 1900s are top-notch. As someone who is enamored with the beauty of words, he freely uses the vernacular of the day (some of which might require the use of a dictionary).

"Yagoda...does a commendable job in his first novel. The research and attention to detail as he describes New York City in the very early 1900s are top-notch."

This is a yarn of secrets. Everyone has at least one. For journalist and short story writer William Sydney Porter --- alias O. Henry --- it’s more than one (even when it comes to telling the curious story of how he chose that pen name). ALIAS O. HENRY demands a lot from the reader, who has to keep the multiple narrative threads and fabrications straight. Among others with secrets are a potential love interest, Porter’s bosses, his enemies, and various people he enlists as his eyes and ears. Porter may have some skeletons in the closet, but at heart he is a decent man, interested in helping those less fortunate and relishing in taking down those in power.

Yagoda takes great pains to describe life in New York. It’s a mostly dark picture, with abject poverty, dirty streets and tenements, but with glimpses of entitlements for the upper class that include fine dining and entertainment. Through it all, Porter struggles to meet his writing deadlines, living hand to mouth with his earnings while still trying to help the underdog.

Yagoda, who among his many books served as editor of O. HENRY: 100 Stories, incorporates his previous works in building his wide-ranging tale. He includes bits and pieces that easily could have been inspired by WILL ROGERS: A Biography, as well as THE SOUND ON THE PAGE: Style and Voice in Writing. And why not? Just because these are works of nonfiction doesn’t mean the topics can’t be repurposed.