“For Hans Christian Andersen, life wasn’t so much a fairy tale as a nightmare. Or so it seems. Though he was Denmark’s most famous literary son, and a prolific author in many genres, Andersen never fully revealed himself. Today, 200 years to the day after he was born, Andersen remains something of a mystery. But he has also become an indelible feature of global culture… Now, to celebrate the occasion, more than 3,000 events have been organized around the world,” and the reexamination of the cobbler-turned-storyteller’s legacy turns up an interesting idea. “As it turns out, Andersen is one of those figures who may be better suited to the 21st century than he was to the 19th.”