Oscar Wilde Books

I admit that I knew very little of Oscar Wilde when I chose this particular book, at random. What an excellent choice for a novice as well as a Wilde devotee! Not only did I appreciate the tragic love story of Oscar, Constance and Bosie, but I also gained an insight into Victorian mores and political machinations. We apparently can't claim the corner on the market of corrupt zealots.
If you haven't read Mr. McKenna's work, you must. In the biography arena, this book is beyond the realm.

McKenna has carved his own niche among the Wilde biographies by concentrating on Oscar's homosexuality (too often marginalized or avoided by other writers), with emphasis on his long relationship with Bosie; McKenna considers theirs a great love affair, but it appears to have been something along the lines of codependency. It's quite remarkable how much detail is known about Oscar's antics through letters, journals and books, maybe too much, since this long read is at times a bit tedious as we move through one young man after another. McKenna has a couple of annoying habits as a writer -- all the young men couldn't have been quite as "breathtakingly" attractive as described, he makes a lot of suppositions about what someone must have thought, or might have done, and he's a bit melodramatic with the "but he would find out all too soon" chapter endings.

But these are quibbles. The book is important is several ways. Above all, it portrays Wilde as one of a group of early advocates of gay rights, a fervent believer that society and the law should treat homosexuals with equality and respect. It also provides a fascinating "decoding" of Wilde's most famous works by explaining the double, ie. homosexual, meaning of words, phrases and behavior on the part of his characters, who were often based on real people. The book paints a vivid picture of the seamy side of London's "Uranian" underground of rent boys, petty thieves and blackmailers and the "respectable" men who took their pleasure there. And it delves into his marriage, the ill-fated consequence of having to protect his reputation from the circling vultures.

Wilde is a fascinating, maddening subject, so sure of his own superiority that he considered himself above the law and the strictures of society, making him ultimately the instrument of his own self-destruction. This book will be of interest primarily to Wilde junkies and people interested in the sexual aspect of his life, but it should be read in conjunction with other bios, lest one get the impression that the great man did little but go at it like a rabbit.

See the other side of famous author Oscar Wilde with this biography. You'll gain new insight and perspective on his life.

"I find it harder and harder every day to live up to my blue china," Oscar Wilde confessed while he was a student at Oxford (p. 14).

For anyone who has visited his lipstick-kissed tomb at the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, Wilde's "secret life" is really no secret. Wilde (1854-1900) was primarily an Irish playwright, novelist, and poet, known for his brazen wit ("Little boys should be obscene and not heard," p. 257), which made him one of the greatest celebrities of late Victorian London. Following Wilde's death, his friend, Frank Harris, wrote a biography, Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions, which was followed by H. Montgomery Hyde's 1975 biography, Oscar Wilde: A Biography, and more recently Richard Ellmann's 1987 meticulous work, Oscar Wilde. Whereas these earlier, excellent biographies focused primarily on Wilde's literary achievements and dealt with his sexuality only in passing, Neil McKenna's The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde examines Wilde's sexuality and sexual behavior in detail--and at times, in graphic detail.

Most biographers concur that Wilde was introduced to homosexuality in 1885, but McKenna speculates--in charting Wilde's "journey" to find his true sexual self (p. xi)--Wilde was first aware of his homosexuality much earlier when he kissed another boy at age 16. After his arrival at Oxford in 1874, Wilde experienced passionate, romantic feelings for Greek beauty (i.e., cultivated, youthful, "fair," "slim" choirboys) (pp. 6-7), but was drawn sexually towards rougher boys. Following his visit to America in 1882, Wilde boasted, "I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips." In his struggle against his sexual feelings for young men, Wilde attempted to "cure" his sexuality in 1884 by marrying Constance Lloyd (the daughter of Queen's Counsel Horace Lloyd) and by fathering two sons, Cyril (1885) and Vyvyan (1886). But he continued to have regular sexual relationships with Robert Baldwin Ross, Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"), and random teenage boys, whom he would meet in bars or brothels, culminating in his May, 1895 conviction and two-year imprisonment for "gross indecency." Later, after remarking, "my wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go" (p. 463), Wilde died in Paris, knowing that "he was a martyr in an epic struggle for the freedom of men to love men" (p. 465).

Drawn from interviews, letters, memoirs, journals, and Wilde's own writings--although McKenna's controversial but highly readable biography has been criticised for being too speculative, it nevertheless succeeds in bringing Wilde to life as a literary genius, a dandy, a pagan, an "extreme aesthete" who attempted to live his life by burning hard like a gemlike flame (p. 13), and as a gay Victorian outcast.

G. Merritt

I bought this book after reading a rave reviews in The Washington Post.
It is everything that it promised to be: brave, fresh, exciting, and
scrupulously researched. I have read most other biographies of Oscar
over the years and really thought that there was little left to say.
McKenna's biography has proved me wrong by proving not a wealth of new
and exciting material, but also a wealth of new insights and
interpretations. I cannot recommend this book too highly - it is a
beautiful and magical read. At the best part of 600 pages, it's a long
book, but for me it wasn't long enough. Incidentally, I don't
understand the comments of the latest reviewer about footnotes. In my
US hardback edition there are nearly 60 pages of notes which
scrupulously source every quote.

I consider these to plays to be probably the most entertaining that we have in the English language. Shakespeare, they're not, but that is precisely why they can be enjoyed by a modern audience. Don't get me wrong, when shakespeare is good he's the tops (much ado about nothing, taming o. the shrew), but even with these plays one has to put one's sixteenth century english cap on, and start thinking in english like that renaissance bard did. What's more, with shakespeare, even the comedies had some serious dark, somber undercurrents. None of that with Wilde. Everything is left to the wit of language, which is ample, and usually uproarious. You really owe yourself the opportunity to become acquainted with these plays. Go out and watch a stage or film production of these plays if you can...

Which is the best play out of the three presented here? Importance of Being Earnest, no question.

I have decided that since so many people are obviously blind to how dumb this play is, I should write a review to enlighten anyone that might read it. The humor is dated and because of that, very boring. The situations are completely inconceivable and it makes no sense! The characters are flat and serve no real purpose. I suggest that no one else ever ever read this play.

This fellow gives new meaning to irreverence and "farce".
His views on the virtues of having a satirically empty head
as written by one appears to be the well written best example?
His characterization of the English upper class as both idle
and clueless came too close to the truth.
Yet he mostly has happy endings and a good laugh for all.

An extraordinary play; witty, profound and beautiful. And even better if you read all of it. Which you won't if you buy the Penguin copy with Edith Evans on the front, since this version is heavily abridged. Which is fine except the publishers make no mention of this at all in the volume. And cultural vandalism of this kind should, I feel at least be acknowledged.

All you Wildeans take note: this is the only edition of the plays wherein the lines are properly numbered for specific citation and easy reference: very, very important!!

Not practical book to carry and to read it while outside, but it is just the way how ALL-IN-ONE book is...However, good to have all his works together...

I wish there was some way to make this large tome more compact, because (if it were possible) I would probably carry it around with me wherever I went! I originally became familiar with his work because Carl Barat and Pete Doherty (band members of The Libertines, a fantastic British band) had mentioned him amongst their favourite authors. I decided to read "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I liked so much that I decided to buy the whole collection of Wilde's plays, poems, and stories.

Perhaps I am biased because I particularly enjoy literature from the 1800s (Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Lewis Carroll, Edwin A. Abbott), though I must admit that I haven't come across anything similar to Oscar Wilde's work before. Wilde's profound ability of creating rich, imaginative dialogue is especially evident in his plays and his one novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray". Many of his plays, especially The Importance of Being Earnest, are too fantastic, too purely Victorian in nature to be imaginable as happening in real life. However, I think that it is the underlying fanciful, almost surrealistic quality of much of his stories and poems that make them most interesting. The sheer amount of quotable phrases found in his work is something to really be marvelled at. Not only the dialogue, but the quality of the plot is brilliant as well. "The Picture of Dorian Gray", a tale of a handsome youth's descent into madness and debauchery, is particularly striking. It makes me wonder what other stories Wilde could have produced if his life had not been so tragically short (1854-1900).

Though he might be more well-known for his plays and novel, his first published material was poetry. His poetry, as does his other work, embodies his ideals of aesthetics: "art for art's sake". The articulate, minute description of details which might go unnoticed or seen as obsolete matter a great deal in the aesthetic philosophy, as does the beautification of objects and art in everyday life. Wilde even had a tour of lectures on the aesthetic movement in the United States and Canada in 1882, though his philosophy wasn't well-received by the majority of critics.

Wilde had said that "The House of Pomegranates", one of his collections of fairy-tales, was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public". This is believable to an extent, because the majority of Wilde's material seems to be encompassed in a world of his own. He was incredibly proficient at putting down onto paper the very heart and soul of what he was trying to convey, which eventually contributed to getting him into trouble later on. The "The Picture of Dorian Gray" became notorious amongst critics as being a "corrupt" and "unclean" work, chiefly due to the apparently "sinful" nature of Dorian Gray and his misadventures.

This collection is 1000+ pages in length, though it didn't take me a considerably long time to read because I found the bulk of it incredibly interesting and well-written. Even for those who have read some of his work before (any poems, stories, essays, and/or letters), and especially for those who haven't...get this book! You will not regret for a moment the decision to delve further into the literature of one of the greatest authors that I know of.

was peeled off and stuck on to the shipping bag.

This is a very well priced volume. It lacks any notation as to the source or dates of all the texts. In fact, the copyright doesn't even tell you when this volume was published. No named editor. Nevertheless, it's got so much: De Profundis, decay of lying, artist as critic, and then the plays, Dorian, etc. No letters and nothing from trials, but a great volume for the price.

The title says it all. This is THEE complete works of Ireland's gift to Victorian London. Wilde's plays, essays, poems, his sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Grey, and his last bitter work, De Profundus, (From The Depths) a letter to his lover and betrayer, Lord Alfred Douglas, is re-printed as well. For the price, it's the best way to add this celebrated, tragic wit to your library.

The play is a description of the morals and values of Victorian England, where a good hearted man, Chiltern is torn apart between remorse over a mistake he committed in the past and his love and devotion to his wife.
It was quite fascinating to read Chiltern's thoughts of being a victim of feminine adoration as opposed to his masculine love that accepts loved one's imperfections.

Apparently, Wilde believes that the acceptance of loved ones' flaws is a key part of love. Oscar Wilde examines love, honesty, friendship, and forgiveness with a humorous, forcibly happy ending.
Nice plot that cleverly mixes seriousness with humor and cynicism with hope. Each character is attractively built, even Mrs. Cheveley, who is the quintessential evil lady, is frankly an attractive evil character
A century later, the same moral irony and the same human nature still exist.

This book is a great nineteenth century literature of one of mi favourites writers ever . It makes a great picture of the english bourgeoisie of the century combined with humour, sarcasm and moral content. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I love Oscar Wilde's penchant for reversals. This play is terribly good fun but makes you think at the same time. I want to see the play acted out on stage now that I've read it!

As a dish for Oscar Wilde's inimitable and devilishly sweet locution, "An Ideal Husband" accentuates adequately.  Like Roger Moore's 70's Bond flicks (before they became cartoons in the 80's), the play is saturated with the style, but very little of the substance from previous genius.

The excuse for, more than the theme of, the play is the unforgiving and insincere moral code among the social elite of fin de siècle London.  Sir Robert Chiltern's otherwise ivory political career grew from selling a Cabinet secret to Stock Exchange speculator, Baron Arnheim, and Mrs. Cheveley, the since-deceased Baron's intimate, possesses the letter of documentation.  All she asks for the letter's destruction is Sir Robert's official support of the Argentine Canal Company, in which she has invested and he knows to be a swindle.  More than an end to his political career, he fears publication of the letter will end his marriage to his admirable, but morally unrelenting wife, Lady Chiltern.  As if to release his audience from any pretension of seriousness, Wilde presents Society's dandy, in the form of Lord Goring, as both his foundation of moral clarity and hedonic flippancy.  A string of one-liners and contrived plot twists later and we delight in what Wilde considers the proper end to any play or romantic relationship, a pleasing settlement.

"An Ideal Husband" is the Daily Star, not the Financial Times. Wilde is truly genius when seriousness is woven through his works, and particularly when his seriousness is personal; but, here he is entertaining nonetheless. If you're just introducing yourself to Oscar Wilde, I recommend including this work after a more flattering introduction, lest you mistake Wilde as merely entertaining.

Chevely: "Sometimes. But it is such a difficult pose to keep up."

Perhaps not so well known as "The Importance of Being Earnest," this has all the same banter, manners, and sharp-eyed look at the crumbling edge of the upper crust in Vistorian England. It pleases the attentive listener at many levels. Considered only as a stream of one-liners and clever quips, it delivers all you could ask for.

But because it's Wilde, it's also a wild tirade against the mannered (sometimes ill-mannered) gentry. Behind that, it has a good deal to say about tolerance for the flaws of any fallible human - and Wilde could speak on human flaws with rare authority. And, like any truly great work, its examination of honesty (and dis-) reveals a good bit about today's world, a century later.

I'm not normally a reader of plays. I don't have that inner ear that brings words on the page to life. Wilde gives me some idea what that experience must be like, and I'm grateful for it.

//wiredweird

I like this story really. It is a story of a ghost who want to fright the new American family but they are too easy and they aren't frightened. So he has a mission to do.
This story is unusual for a ghost. It is a interesting and thrilling story. It is also easy to read for students. I didn't feel bored, when I read this book, because you are in this thrilling situation. But it is also very funny and your face will be touched with a smile. So the whole story is very good.

The Canterville Ghost is a charming tale, one of Oscar Wilde's best. It is a ghost story, a comedy and a romance all rolled into one, told with the offbeat, rolling wit that only Wilde can tell.

An American family moves into a haunted mansion in England, but it is they who torment the ghost with their irrepressible irreverence, finally driving the phantom to despair. The lovely, charming daughter of the family, strikes up a friendship with the ghost, freeing it, with her prayer and tears.

It is a tragic tale with a happy ending , a wonderful story for all ages.

This is a nice, short and easy story to read, it will show you the way people think about themselves and about others, you can read this fairy tale while waiting in the airport, it won't take you more that an our to read it, OK, maybe two hours and you will have a smile after you finish the book.

The Canterville Ghost is a small book, which is quite easy to read.
It is a funny story and there are a lot of jokes. Sometimes it is a little bit boring., but when you like the spiritual then you like this book.
It is a fantasy history, who you can use your own imagination. It is also a sad story, although superficially there is a happy ending.
There you see the difference between the serious minded English people and the practical Americans
You can see parallels between the story and the writer. Oscar Wilde had a very difficult life at the end, and in his story it is the ghost, which suffers a lot because of the fact that he has no audience who is willing to pay attention to his pranks.
I think it is a good book to read at school. And I have loved the jokes very much and I like the mystical and spiritual side of this book too.

It's rare for a ghost story to be sympathetic towards the ghost or to flush out the ghosts character. Usually the ghost is just there to frighten the main characters and the readers. The Canterville Ghost however does make the ghost an interesting and understandable character without letting the suspense suffer.

Never before have I ever had the chance to read and witness such a spectacular play as this one. It not only opened my eyes to the harsh realities that a homosexual man may face, but it also allowed me to appreciate and respect their lives and struggles in a predominantly heterosexual society. This play not only captured the essence of Oscar Wilde but also can claim a spot amongst the greatest and most moving plays of all time.

Gross Indecency did a fine job of revealing the puritanical injustices commited by the court of Victorian England. It gives insight into the public sentiment and attitude towards class distinction and sexuality in the late 19th century. What makes Gross Indecency work is that much of the intolerance of Wilde's time still exsists to this day. Much of the content of "Gross Indecency" has yet to be learned.

I have been lucky enough to share the initiation of Mr. Kaufman career in theater in Venezuela, have seen Gross Indecency both in New York and London several times, and have read the play, which is masterfully built. This is a unique experience, both read and seen, and believe me, Mr. Kaufman will be remembered in the future as one of the great names of theater of our time. This may sound as an exaggeration, but if you are someone who is looking for trends in theater, great acting, the influence of Brecht in new generations, never forget this author and director.

This play seems to be true to Oscar Wilde's real biographical story in terms of its dialogues, but I did not enjoy reading it much. At first, I thought to myself: "Well, it is a PLAY, after all, may be it will seem better on a theater stage, where it belongs". So, I went to see three different versions in three different theaters. I am sorry to say, but I did not feel much better about this play after doing that. Well...if you are REALLY INTERESTED IN OSCAR WILDE, you might as well read it, but if you are only mildly interested, then this play is not for you.

i decided to read gross indecency after seeing something about it on tv. being a big fan of oscar wilde's work, i thought that it would be informative. but it went so far beyond that... the play is a little hard to get into at first, and if you're not a fan of oscar wilde, i really wouldn't recommend reading it. you can really see the oscar's transformation during the course of the three trials, from an independent artist with his own views on morality who refuses to be ashamed about his sexuality, to someone who has seen the people he was friends with testify against him over and over....i don't know how anyone could survive in such a situation..... anyway, this play gave me a whole new knowledge of the life of oscar wilde and a new respect for him, the choices that he made, and the courage that he had. if you are really interested in the life of oscar wilde, read this.

The most fun I have had reading a little book in a long time. I loved Agatha Christie books and Sherlock Holmes so the setting in Victorian London was just perfect for me. Plus Oscar Wilde's wit was unmatchable. I can't wait for the next book. I usually don't buy books but I may end up buying this series. I like this even more than Sarah Caudwell's books.

I wouldn't call OSCAR WILDE AND A DEATH OF NO IMPORTANCE a perfect book, but it's well written and a lot of fun. I enjoyed talking some time off from more serious reading to enjoy this book in a hammock in the back garden.

If you love Oscar Wilde, if you enjoy Sherlock Holmes, and if you're looking for something a little lighthearted, but still a lot of fun, I don't see how you could go wrong with this book.

First, a confession. Not only am I an Oscar Wilde scholar, of sorts, but I am also a life long devotee of The Canon. So, this book is a perfect escape for myself, and I must commend the author on not only coming up with a fine mystery deserving of Sherlock Holmes himself, but more importantly (and more of interest) a fine, balanced portrait of what Oscar Wilde may well have been like in his very brief prime. While Oscar Wilde has become in recent years somewhat of a poster child for the gay rights movement, in reality he was a much more complex, nuanced person who by all accounts did love his wife and children dearly--as well as beauty in all of its wondrous permutations. The book is quite well written as well, as befits its subject. Whilst perhaps I should have seen the ending coming, my disbelief was willingly suspended long enough to result in a very enjoyable and satisfying finish to this quick, rewarding read.

I cannot recommend this delicious little pastiche highly enough. The plot is outlined in previous reviews so there's no need to rehash; however, I do feel the need to contribute my proverbial two cents in regard to how compulsively readable this one is. Having a Kindle, I originally downloaded the "sample". That was all it took. I subsequently downloaded the full text immediately upon completion and could not "flip the pages"/push the "next page" button fast enough. As much as I read--and love to do so--it is far too rare that I become so engrossed in a book from the first page. And although one reviewer indicated that the murderer was somewhat "elementary, my dear..." to identify, I was quite surprised by the ending (at least by half).

Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore/computer/Kindle for this delightful mystery. I, for one, cannot wait for the next.

It's no mystery why Brandreth chose Oscar Wilde as his protagonist. In real life, Wilde was a larger-than-life character who, in his day, pricked society's balloon, which was full of stuffy Victorian hot air. In "A Death of No Importance," Wilde happily admits to imitating Sherlock Holmes--almost too much perhaps. He's so intent on solving the mystery with such calculated confidence that we often forget he's the urbane bon vivant. Brandreth has to remind us by having Oscar indulge in an occasional glass of champagne. By the book's end, Wilde is still more of a caricature than a character--you never truly understand him or feel much for him, or any of the characters for that matter.

It's a mildly fun ride, though, especially if you like the mix of literary characters and Sherlock Holmesiana. If you do, you'll spot the villian halfway through the book. But most of the fun comes from following Oscar romp around 1890s London. All in all, this book is an interesting, perhaps frivolous, addition to the subgenre of historical mysteries.

However, it rings at least one major false note: Instead of embracing Oscar Wilde's homosexuality, and using that as something of a foil for the mores of the day, Brandreth takes the line that Wilde was (at the time in which this book is set anyway) not gay and, in his own way, devoted to his wife. Who knows the real truth? But it feels like a cop out in order to appease the mainstream reader.

One final quibble: Brandreth loves his commas. He is comma crazy. He never fails to insert one when the slightest opportunity arises. Here's a random example: "Aidan Fraser, Oscar, and I were standing in our places, clutching our napkins, like errant schoolboys, with slates in hand, being admonished by their governess."

Nevertheless, I'm, rather, looking, forward, to, the, next, book, in, this, series.

Melodramatics from Lady Windermere. Mrs. Erlynne and Lord Windermere meeting but incomprehensibly deaf to the rumors about them. Yes, this is not Oscar Wilde's best play but, oh, the zingers he does get in, namely through Cecil Graham. Example: "Well, there's nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It's a thing no married man knows anything about." Read it for the pithy lines.

I have always enjoyed all of Oscar Wilde's works, but this is not very good compared with the others, but none the less still worth reading. The characters were sort of dull, but the plot intresting which made up for it. I'd reccomend this to fans of Oscar Wilde, but if you have just discovered Wilde, skip this and start with either, "The picture of dorian gray" or "the importance of being Earnest".

I just wanted to say that i really love this play and that i highly suggest that everyone should read this funny and witty masterpiece. Lady Windermere is so naive but i liked the bit when she threatens to slap Mrs Erlynne across the face. That's what i call Girl Power!!

Anyway, i wanted to know if there are any notes to accompany this play. I need some notes that focus on the language of the play, social context, characters, etc.

I would be eternally grateful if anyone could help.

Oscar Wilde entirely dedicates this play to the exploration of the way a woman can be saved from destruction in this society of appearances. A woman was the victim of an imbroglio in the past and abandoned her daughter. This woman comes back and the daughter ignores her relation to her. She is brought back into societry by the daughter's husband who knows the truth but does not want his wife to know it. But there is some kind of malediction that flies over the heads of these women. The daughter nearly does the same mistake as her mother but she is saved by her mother who accepts to be tainted in her daughter's place. Bus Oscar Wilde must think there is some kind of reward for a good deed and all is well that ends well, and this play has a happy ending. In spite of all the melodramatic sentimentalese atmosphere, Oscar Wilde definitely explores in this play the great disadvantage of a woman in society. Men can do nearly all they want. Women are extremely limited and have to walk a very straight and narrow line. Oscar Wilde seems to be ahead of his time as for the fate of women: he seems to aspire for real equality for them, though he shows in all possible ways that this is impossible in his society.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

My first experience reading Oscar Wilde... and certainly not my last.

Wilde's sardonic wit and ineffable satire had me enchanted from page one. Wilde writes with devastatingly appealing witticisms, and with a style and cleverness matched by few other authors. It is said that he is one of the more oft-quoted authors in the English language, and I now understand why.

In addition to axioms and aphorisms of pure genius, the plot both captivates and surprises the reader. Lady Windermere discovers that her husband has been cheating on her, and a folly of misunderstandings and poor advice then unfolds; all the while satirizing society.

I love this book.

When I read it, I feel as if his son is in my living room telling me stories of the old days. It is written very honestly and colloquial, so that you can really go through it. And yet, the Europe at the early part of the century - it is different. This is a chance to read something and feel like the author is with you and telling you about himself and his family. Very sad in parts, but vivid, and at no time written to be a victim's story. Very good.

the Empire painted WIlde a degenerate, a scapegoat sacrificed for its own corruption and sins. THis book, written by his surviving son, with emendations and commentary and suggestions by his grandson, reveals the true Wilde, who early loved his sons and whose greatest loss in his pillorying by the EMpire was his family. Wilde is not the painted savant fruit he is pictured, but a true family man, a true nationalist Irishman (to know Wilde, know his mother), and a truly gentle genius.

TO read this book is hear again the epic tale of sons in search of their lost father. In this case Telemachus never again sees Odysseus, and the aching yearning between father and son oozes gently from these pages like an embarrased fatal wound.

THe greatest artistic work, and the most grecian tragic, as Wilde predicted, became his own life. TO understand WIlde, please read this book. What wonders of literature this talented son might have produced, besides his remarkable translations from the French, etc., had this gifted family remained intact, and even at home with Lady Wilde in Dublin. Perhaps Wilde's second son would never have died for the EMpire at war. But such musings lead to the despairing madness which ultimately tempted Oscar upon his early deathbed.

Essential for any and all student and reader of Mr. Wilde. A universal legend of filial affection in its own right, as cross generational as any Garcia MArquez work. BEautifully written.

Vyvan Holland was just a child when his beloved father Oscar Wilde "disappeared" from his life in 1895. SON OF OSCAR WILDE is a remarkable story told by Wilde's youngest son. Holland makes no effort to answer burning questions about the demise of his father--one of the greatest figures of moden English literature. He never defends or condemns his father's actions. He cherishes the memory of a loving father. The Wilde family crisis changed Holland's life forever. Holland never saw his father or had contact with him after 1895. He was in his late teens before he was told the actual truth about his father. He had been so carefully protected from the truth by his mother's family that he assumed his father had been a bigamist or criminal. It was a relief to learn the reason his father had been imprisoned. Holland wrote his autography more than 50 years after the death of his father. He tells his story as he lived it. In 1895, Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor in prison for his homosexuality. The court confiscated his home and his property leaving his family broken-hearted. Even Holland's precious toys were sold at auction for pennies. The scandal was so great that his wife and 2 sons left for exile in Europe. Their surnames were changed and they lived in fear of the identity of their father being discovered. His mother died not long afterward during exile leaving the sons in the care of a guardian. Alone and lost and ashamed, the brothers were sent off to separate boarding schools. The brothers rarely saw each other again. Their mother's family made every effort to erase the memory of Oscar Wilde from their lives. Wilde died in 1900 never being able to make contact with his sons. Holland's writing can be dry at times and he often jumps forward and back in time but overall he has an incredible story to tell. Most people know the basic story of Wilde's demise. A brilliant literary mind went silent and Wilde could never write again after release from prison. The truth about Wilde's suffering wife and sons is finally told in this book. Although the family was forced into exile, their mother did not abandon Wilde and kept in contact with him until her tragic death. She knew his suffering but did not consent to allowing contact with the son. Only years later, did Holland learn of Wilde's great writings. So great was the scandal, that Wilde's books were basically banned in England. Several lives were ruined in a scandal that would be nothing more than jiucy fodder for the tabloids today. SON OF OSCAR WILDE gives some rare insight into a story that had never been fully told.

For more than 20 years Oscar Wilde has been one of my favourite author, perhaps the favourite author. Because the life was taken away from him he could not wrote all the plays, poems and stories I want so much to read, so I have read his works over and over again. Each time I find something new/something to enjoy; partly it is his wonderful point of view, partly his good sense of humour. For a long time I have been aware of his downfall, but don't know what exactly happened until recently. I also knew that he was married and that he and his wife had two sons, and sometimes I revolved in my mind: What happened to them? Where did they go? So when I found the book Son of Oscar Wilde at Amazon.com I bought it immediately. This is a beautiful book by man who knew and loved his father, but suddenly his father was no longer taken place in his life. Why? It took him more than ten years to let himself to try to find the answer. In this book he tells the world how. Everybody who like Wilde's works, love an honesty, are interested in the Victorian time or want to try to understand the consequences of hate should do themselves the favour to read Son of Oscar Wilde. Vyvyan Holland wrote: ..."my father's character was his great humanity, his love of life and of his fellow-men, his sympathy with suffering. He was the kindest and gentles of men, an he hated to see anyone suffer." After reading Son of Oscar Wilde I do believe this is also the description of his son. Vyvyan Holland died in the year 1968 so I will not get the opportunity to thank him for his book, nor can I thank his father for all the good times he have gave me, but both, father and son, deserved my thanks.

As an Oscar Wilde fanatic (I have read literally everything ever written by/about him) I was drawn to this book because of the new perspective about him that was offered: that of his child. Not only is it interesting to read about his Vyvyan's memories about him, but the biography is written in such a vivid way that one can actually feel the pain Oscar's son goes through when his father is sentenced to prison and when he dies. This is a must read for an Oscar Wilde fan interested in gaining a new perspective on the legendary writer...it is the closest one will ever be to understanding what it was like being in his family.

I, too, am writing to cancel out the vote of the idiot-child who first rated this book. When Amazon deletes his comment and rating, maybe it will delete mine, too.

i need some help with the characters. I got a school assignment to do on oscar wilde's play Lady Winderemer's Fan. I got 5 questions to answer and i need some help

I prefer to read the original French SALOME as Wilde wrote it for Lady Sarah B., but amazon.com only has that at one hundred dollars (try the usual e-text sites)

This is an excellent useful no frills edition of all the essential plays with the unusual inclusion of Salome. Not a note about its unusual history, nor commentary for any of the other plays. Just what you need when all you want are the plays in one conveniently sized volume. Get it. Essential to any library.

My commentary: Wilde, the loving son of a fierce Irish nationalist, concealed his Catholic faith and true nation allegiance to infiltrate the oppressing Empire and reveal its corruption in these plays, albeit sugar-coated. He was jailed while researching its deepest perversities and broken there before he could write his magnus opus busting this wide open. The closest we have is Dorian Grey and the first scene of Ernest. But his unjust and unholy imprisonment produced De PRofundis and later his Ballad of Reading Goal, which read.

Much of Oscar Wilde's public persona can be seen through the plays and reading them it is easy to see why he was so admired, talked about, loathed and scorned. While I don't find him in his plays to be the epitome of wit some make him out to be, it is easy to see how innovative his plays must have been.

Despite being funny in a witty kind of way in many places, they also outline if not his beliefs, then at least his beliefs as he presented them to the public. And what I found was a playful, self mocking kind of "opulence" - where Wilde's supposed aesthesism is not dogmatic but rather to be enjoyed. Thus, we see him participate in society through his characters while mocking society. Another important aspect is that despite his most witty characters (characters one would naturally identify with Wilde) scorning conventional morality, the actual outcome of his plays contains a morality of its own - and one that's quite close to some modern-day libertarians: a happy ending means that people make the best of their circumstances to enjoy themselves and live a happy and fulfilling life in the freedom of pursuing what they want to. Even if this is nothing like what Wilde wanted to convey, it still adds to the plays' reading.

I found the actual plays to be quite undifferentiated in that there is nothing that is in one that is completely radical compared to the others - rather, it's good to read them all in order to immerse oneself in that kind of atmosphere for a brief moment. The only exception is Salome, which is very unusual, but I think it's clear that it was intended to be so, and there's something avant-garde about it (especially the refrains about things like the moon scattered throughout).

But enough from me, read it and find out part of the reason why Wilde has left such a unique mark on world literature/culture/etc!

I recommend this collection of Wilde's plays, not only because it has nice, big, clear print (better than some of the other available versions) but because of its wonderfully pithy intro by John Lahr. In fact I just put a John Lahr book in my shopping cart because I liked this intro so much. I finished reading Richard Ellman's 500+ page bio of Wilde the other day, so you wouldn't think I'd find anything new in this short intro, but Lahr put things together, with fresh ideas and insights, so I really ended up admiring Lahr's writing ability.

As to the plays, well of course you need a collection of Wilde's plays in your library!

I feel a great need to post here to offset the student who posted and gave less than 5 stars. I hope you finished your homework!