Oscar Wilde Books

In this story, there is a very selfish giant. He hates kids and won't let them play in his garden. This causes spring not to come. This goes on for years; no children playing, no spring. Finally, one day, many many years later, the children just play in the garden without permission, and spring comes. All of the kids are climbing trees, except for one little boy. Something amazing happens, but you have to read the story to find out what it is.
I think this story is trying to teach us that kindness goes a long way. If you are mean and grumpy all the time, you will have no joys in your life now, or even after death. If you are nice, loving, and caring, that will go along way, and you will be rewarded for that later. Everyone should remember, what you do now, will eventually come back to you, in some way or form. Treat others how you wanted to be treated back.

As a fan of Ravi works, I bought this also, its only 96 pages and worth the purchase. I enjoy philosophy, what you have here is Ravi talking to Oscar Wilde about pleasure, the sacredness of why God created it. It's marvelous how Ravi chose a great candidate for his book of those who abuse the sacredness of pleasure. Oscar Wilde lived a life of debauchery, who indulged his lifestyle of vain and worthless things. A life that got him into prison and ultimately his death mirrored his lifestyle. A great read, for those who enjoy philosophy.

"Formerly we used to canonise our heroes. The modern method is to vulgarise them. Cheap editions of great books may be delightful, but cheap editions of great men are absolutely detestable."

--Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist

For this author, who knows nothing of the soul of Wilde's arguments, to dare to speak for him is as offensive and irresponsible as me sculpting in the name of Michelangelo. A bias proselytizer, his insipid interpretations of Wilde's philosophies, and 3rd-grade understanding of art, are completely wrong, set up like strawmen to be batted about by his "Jesus." Even worse: it's badly written.

But don't take my word for it. Look at the sample pages, then read Wilde's "Critic as Artist" or "Decay of Lying" online, and draw your own conclusions.

What a tragedy. That small men can play dress-up with great men's corpses adds a new horror to death. They are, as Wilde says, the mere body-snatchers of literature.

I have read this book a few times now, and I can wholeheartedly say that I have never read a book that more clearly portrays the pathetic nature of the human heart, nor provided greater insights than this book does.

Some say this is not an acurate protrayal of Oscar Wilde, but I think they are wrong. The book shows the corruption of the heart that is evident in all people, including: Oscar Wilde, Mother Theresa, myself, the reader of my review, and all other people. This is not a book about one man's struggle, it is about the struggle that every person faces in life, and it is an invaluable resource for all people.

I have been a fan of Dr. Zacharias' books and lectures for many years now. Having recently read biographies of both Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas I thought there would be some interesting insight here. The book is not as strong as it could be. As for the life of Wilde there is really nothing new here. That said, the conversation between Jesus, Oscar Wilde, and Blaise Pascal creates an interesting juxtaposition. Dr. Zacharias has done a great service in his conversation with Jesus series of books. My only negative comment is the back handed comments by Dr. Zacharias in this book toward Roman Catholic liturgy and sacramental belief. As a Catholic, that is one conversation I would like to have with Dr. Ravi Zacharias.

I thought that this was a great fictitious conversation between Jesus and Oscar Wilde. It delved deep into the nature of man and our ability to enjoy our indulgences. The dialogue was well written, the conclusions made perfect sense and the book will really make you think. I'd recommend it to anyone. It works as Christian fiction, but it also works as a philosophical treatise.

DKS

In the spirit of Schenkar's grasping at straws to add pages to her book, I'd like to provide a recipe of my own:
How to Bore and Infuriate a Reader
Take 1 very interesting character
Add vast amounts of filler and repetition
Lard with half-baked postmodern theory
Heap in generous amounts of self-satisfaction
Infer that you've egregiously taken advantage of Nathalie Barney's elderly and generous housekeeper
Stir it all up with bad prose.
Half-bake and serve forth to an unsuspecting audience.

This is without a doubt the worst book I have ever read. The author's cohorts seem to have agreed upon "experimental" as the operative descriptor for this abomination. In these tedious pages, however, "experimental" means only this: bad research, no facts, meandering/aimless prose, lack of direction, and disorganization. Oh, yes, how could I forget? It also means enormous amounts of filler at the end, including recipes and a handprint analysis-all, no doubt, in an attempt to meet contractual obligations to the publisher for a page count.

Don't take my word for it. Read the New York Times book review that appeared when this book was first published. It was written by a well-known lesbian feminist, and one would expect the reviewer to be sympathetic. Instead, she ripped this book to shreds. Deservedly so, in my opinion.

With "Truly Wilde," author Joan Schenkar has reinterpreted and redefined the possibilities of the biographical form. Her strategy in recreating the world of Parisian intellectual and artistic salons in which Oscar Wilde's niece Dolly flourished in the 1920s - most notably Natalie Barney's Academie des Femmes - is stunningly iconoclastic, deeply compelling, and brilliantly written. From a base of scrupulous and capacious research, from interviews with primary sources and access to original documents, illustrated with a fascinating array of photographs, Schenkar uses a thematic rather than chronological approach to bring Dolly Wilde and her world to life, and to follow with fierce attention the course of her descent to a lonely death in London at the age of 45. Ms. Schenkar does not feel bound by academic niceties. Her book is rich in the odd detail - a palm reading, for instance, or a favorite recipe - that make that era and those brilliant characters as luminous as real life. In her hands, Dolly Wilde becomes a memorable and ultimately mysterious force of nature.

There is nothing like pleasure to motivate a book review and I took an enormous pleasure in reading -- and then in instantly re-reading - TRULY WILDE. This book gives such a precise and poetic view of the seductive and fascinating Dolly Wilde and such a generously ducumented look at the period in which she flourished -- a period in which conversation was still an art and identity was something that could still be invented - that you really feel yourself feeling with and for Dolly. It's an exemplary, inventive biography. And the photographs are wonderful.

Truly Wilde assumes that its readers delight in language and ideas and bring to it a certain intelligence. I presume that this refreshing approach accounts for the stellar reviews on the book jacket by such brilliant writers as Jeannette Winterson and Edmund White; I presume that it also accounts for the few, suspiciously vitriolic comments found on this site - which seem to be motivated by something other than a desire to share an opinion.

I HIGHLY recommend TRULY WILDE to all lovers of pleasure who like to think: this book, this life will reward you a thousand times over.

How do you relate the life of someone who never stepped forward from the shadows of her disgraced uncle, Oscar Wilde? Someone who sparkled like a thousand shards of a broken mirror on a sunlit day?
Dolly was a wisp of a shadow, mesmerizing, bewitching permanently etching herself into onto one's memory with her mere presence. Those who knew her well, Janet Flanner, Natalie Barney, Honey Harris - true wordsmiths all- struggled to explain her enigmatic aura. Captivating, enchanting - adjectives repeated over and over in a vain attempt to eplain her effect on all she met.
Her magic was her brilliant conversation, her charming turn of phrase, the impermanence of flowing dialogue that she wouldn't or couldn't commit to paper. She lived and died in 'The Moment' nothing else mattered. Her flame burned bright and then was gone - a willing(?) or fated victim to excesses she could not (and would not) control and the ravages of a body aged long before its time. Suicide? accident? Murder? The myth and truth of 'Wilde' consumed her all the same.
This biography isn't linear because Dolly didn't live her life linearly. Her life was moments of sight and sound and fury that the author captures completely.
How do you truly explain the unexplainable? This book is at it's best a series of half glimpses, whispered hints, or even dim reflections in mirrors (Dolly hated mirrors)of someone so busy 'living in the moment' that after that glorious moment she was gone with only the faint trace of pleasure and grace.
And somehow all that works and works well, this book recreates her life so much more then a dry recording of droning facts could ever capture of such a glorious spirit. No such dullness For Dolly Wilde! I highly recommend this book.

As Continental forces and Virginia militia units were engaged in winning independence, American quartermasters and provisioners struggled to provide these units with all the necessities of life, from meals and guns to meat, fodder for horses, the horses themselves, firewood, and every other type of material. Much of this was requisitioned from the civilian population and certificates were issued payable in either continental or state funds, depending on the units supplied, upon presentation to court authorities. Thousands of these certificates issued to Virginians were duly entered by the courts, and they provide a fascinating insight into the period of the Revolution. These "Publick" Claims booklets contain interesting and useful information about the contributions of ordinary people to the Revolutionary War. They provide some details of people's service in the militia or as guards for prisoners of war; they indicate where some bodies of troops were at particular times; and they identify providers of horses, wagons, cattle, grain, or other supplies. Much of the information in these booklets cannot be found anywhere else, which makes the surviving records particularly valuable. Also remarkable is the fact that records survived from virtually every county in the state at that time with the exception of the newly formed Kentucky counties. This makes the collection even more valuable in covering areas which heretofore in this time period have suffered from a lack of personal data. The "Virginia Publick Claims" are published by counties. In addition to a faithful transcription by Janice Luck Abercrombie and the late Richard Slatten, a complete index is provided for each county booklet. This series is an extremely important genealogical tool for searchers in Revolutionary-era materials.

Although it is apparant that Barbara Belford researched Oscar Wilde's life thoroughly, she is never able to capture her subject in such a way that the reader feels s/he knows Wilde well. Often her sentences are run-on and so confusing that frequently I had to re-read a line in order to grasp its meaning.

I have recently read Jonathan Fryer's biography of Robbie Ross who was Wilde's great friend and literary executor. If Ross had not been associated so closely with Wilde, his life would not merit a biography. Even so, I feel that I know Ross better from Fryer's book than I understand Wilde from Belford's. The same holds true concerning Douglas Murray's book, Bosie: A Biography of Lord Alfred Douglas. Bosie's relationship with Wilde brought about Wilde's conviction for gross indecency, his imprisonment, his exile and contributed to his early death in 1900. Aside from those facts, Bosie Douglas's life would not call for a biography. Yet again I understand Bosie from Murray's book than I understand Wilde from Belford's. In fact, both Fryer and Murray offer more insight into Wilde in their biographies of his close associates than Belford offers in her biography of Wilde.

I reached for this volume for a refreshing change of pace from this dreary, political and social state of things. Alas, there was no such lift to be had in this volume. The story was all there, the good times and the bad but the tone was too dark. I'll wager that most people who reach for his biography are less intrigued by the history as they are by the precision bite of his words. Indeed, this seems more of a latter life work. We are given a front row seat to the repressive consequences for his flaunting conservative standards about sexuality. The details were complete and appropriately credited. But the theatrics were missing. That novel charge so often haughty and sharp lost that rippling propulsion that has succeeded over time. As a unashamed Victorian homosexual, Wilde was well ahead of his time. The question is, was he ahead of our time as well? there can be no doubt that Wilde's tongue can wag and delight contemporary readers and theater goers. However that voice and pen, used with sizzling, frenetic arrogance is sadly, not at home in this bio.

Ms. Bedford made no pretention to focusing upon a particular aspect of Oscar Wilde's life. Rather, she intended to offer a truly unbiased volume of carefully researched biographical information regarding Wilde and his societal surroundings. Many other readers have criticized the work for its seeming lack of spirit and depth. Ms. Bedford did not wish to offer such things, however. It is the duty of the reader to take the work and make one's own opinions regarding Wilde's life. Such a practice is rarely performed in modern times since the reading public are so very used to being told what to like - an attitude Wilde fought so much against. The volume meets the standard set by the author in the introduction, as well as the standards of biographies of its kind. It is, on the whole, a very good work.

Barbara Belford's biography is well-illustrated and quotes its subject profusely, yet I came away with the feeling it tried to hard to prove a theory of Wilde rather than to explore him. The author discusses her reservations about Ellmann's biography of Wilde, and complains in her foreword that recent biographies have "take[n] specialist views: ... the Irish Wilde, the gay Wilde..." Yet she does exactly that, and seems to want to make up for Ellman's "reticence" in discussing Wilde's sexuality by placing it at instead the center of this work. As if Ellmann's Wilde was perhaps not gay enough for some, Belford's is overwhelmingly so; this has the (unintended?) effect of minimizing the importance of Wilde's wife Constance and his children. Wilde's homosexual passions are cast as the sole source of his inspiration, and it is suggested that he wanted to assert his right to live as he chose. In fact, the opposite appears true. By prosecuting Queensberry, Wilde was in essence asserting his right to stay legally and publicly in the closet. Once he had been forced in court to accept that Queensberry was "entitled to call him a posing sodomite", Wilde hardly seems to have accepted the title with enthusiasm or pride, as he himself makes clear in the opening of De Profundis.

Overall I'd say it was a pleasant enough read for those already familiar with its subject, but I would hesitate to recommend it to Wilde novices: the man was more complex than he is ultimately portrayed here, and one almost gets the impression the writer dislikes her subject. It leaves the taste of an exposé.

... This book about the life, death, and character of Brian Jones is absolutely as beautiful as it is chilling! ... Jeremy Reed has the gifted ability to transcend time and space and bring us right into the heart and soul - and life circumstances at the time of his death - of Brian Jones, founder and one-time leader of The Rolling Stones. ... I do not know if the conclusion of this book is true: that Brian Jones was killed and murdered in the swimming pool at his own country home by a group of bloody blockheads who were friends with employees of the Rolling Stones organization; but after reading this book, Bill Wyman's STONE ALONE, and the most recent OLD GODS ALMOST DEAD (about The Rolling Stones, by Stephen Davis), there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Brian Jones' death was no accident! ... I was pissed after reading this book! Pissed, and sad. ... Where in the hell were the other Rolling Stones within hours of this happening to Brian, and why did they NOT insist on a thorough, precise, and intense investigation into his death?! THIS question haunts me MORE than if Brian was murdered or died of "misadventure;" MORE than if Brian was heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual; and even MORE than if he, indeed, was getting his act together and on the verge of forming another great band. (On the last postulation, I have no doubt!). ... So, the real question to ask is: If Brian Jones was murdered, WHY was Brian murdered - and more importantly - to WHOSE BENEFIT would it be to see Brian dead? ... RIGHT?! ... 1969 was a bad year: The Beatles broke-up, Brian Jones "died," and The Rolling Stones had to suffer their own DEGREE OF MURDER (indeed!) during Altamont. ... The Beatles and The Stones had a lot in common, but especially astrologically. Both bands had a combination of 2 trines and 2 squares. In the Beatles, Lennon (Libra) and McCartney (Gemini) were both trined AIR signs, whereas Harrison (Pisces) and Starr (Cancer) were both trined WATER signs. Also, Lennon was "squared" to Starr, and McCartney was "squared" to Harrison. ... In the Stones, Jones (Pisces) and Wyman (Scorpio) were both trined WATER signs, whereas Jagger (Leo) and Richards (Sagittarius) are both trined FIRE signs. Jones was "squared" to Richards, and Wyman was "squared" to Jagger. The 5th member of The Stones, Charlie Watts (a Gemini), is "opposite" Richards, "sextiled" to Jagger, "inconjunct" to Wyman, and ALSO "squared" to Jones. THIS made Brian the odd man out, with a DOUBLE-SQUARE against him!! Oppositions are no picnic, but they harbour a certain degree of respect. Squares, on the other hand, can be VERY disrespectful. ... This book sheds much light on the sensitive soul of Brian Jones. Pages 29 and 94 also have some very inuitively perceptive and right-on remarks about serious sociological realities in modern capitalist societies; realities that - as a true artist - Brian found himself at odds with. Yet, unlike Jagger & Richards - who tried to bribe their way out of jail - when Brian got busted the first time, he honestly and openly admitted that the pot and / or hash - and ONLY that - were his. He did not lie! He may have been a petty thief at times, an irresponsible parent, and an abusive misogynist - to say nothing of his alcohol abuse - but he was honorable, dignified, and true to his artistic and individualistic spirit till the end. ... He loved music. Brian Jones was a Dionysiac Adonis and a Lord of The Muse, who he served with all his heart and soul. ... This book sheds light on the truth. If you love Brian Jones, if you love The Rolling Stones, and if you love the music that inspired them all to devote their lives to it, then you MUST read this short, but very insightful, book by Jeremy Reed. It is truly a labor of love. - The Aeolian Kid.

This is the worst book about Brian ever. It is a thesis and the author's opinions. It is based on Nicholas Fitzgerald's book that was fiction and embellishment! There are better and more current books about Brian's murder. As far as the author projecting that Brian was bisexual or repressed that is nonsense! People alluding to that only want to sell books because sensationalism sells. When Brian was arrested for cannabis he was made to take a psychological profile - the results of which were disclosed, stating that he was HETEROSEXUAL. Many other men dressed in the dandy fashion of the time that Brian made famous and they weren't written about and compared to Lord Byron or the complex Oscar Wilde. When he was kicked out of England for impregnating a girlfriend at sixteen and went to Germany, Scandanavia etc. his parent's sent him money and many women cared for him, along with singing on corners for change. Mr. Reed would have you believe Brian hustled for men to support himself... Ridiculous and not factual!! He was there for barely 3 months, when his money ran out he went home. Brian himself told his friends about those days and hustling was not a part of them, I'm tired of people trying to cast aspersions on his sexuality, when former girlfriends and many friends including former bandmate Bill Wyman state emphatically Brian was straight. Also many poets and musicians, celebs in the 60's supported the gay rights movement, it didn't mean they were. Brian has children and grandchildren and I'm sure they don't like hearing him being trashed and lied about in order to sell books. He was no saint and he was not always nice to his girlfriends nor the best father, but he was very young (remember he died at 27, but deserves better than this book). I dont care if anyone agrees or not, but the people who were close to Brian and are not former friends trying to sell tell-all books (including some shameless rock celebs) truly remember him. This fantasy book along with it's Nicholas Fitzgerald predecessor deserve no stars!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1Z0T6S888YUU5 This book is satisfactory , no more than that.
It deals with other decadents from way long ago most frequently Oscar Wilde.
Reading about Brian Jones was the purpose of my purchase.
I really didn't want to read about Oscar Wilde and the comparisons between the two.
If you are interested in reading about decadents of long, long ago and Brian Jones as well, then this thin book is ideal for you.
If you are only interested in reading about Brian Jones, pass on this book.

... This book about the life, death, and character of Brian Jones is absolutely as beautiful as it is chilling! ... Jeremy Reed has the gifted ability to transcend time and space and bring us right into the heart and soul - and life circumstances at the time of his death - of Brian Jones, founder and one-time leader of The Rolling Stones. ... I do not know if the conclusion of this book is true: that Brian Jones was killed and murdered in the swimming pool at his own country home by a group of bloody blockheads who were friends with employees of the Rolling Stones organization; but after reading this book, Bill Wyman's STONE ALONE, and the most recent OLD GODS ALMOST DEAD (about The Rolling Stones, by Stephen Davis), there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Brian Jones' death was no accident! ... I was [mad] after reading this book! [Mad], and sad. ... Where in the hell were the other Rolling Stones within hours of this happening to Brian, and why did they NOT insist on a thorough, precise, and intense investigation into his death?! THIS question haunts me MORE than if Brian was murdered or died of "misadventure;" MORE than if Brian was heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual; and even MORE than if he, indeed, was getting his act together and on the verge of forming another great band. (On the last postulation, I have no doubt!). ... So, the real question to ask is: If Brian Jones was murdered, WHY was Brian murdered - and more importantly - to WHOSE BENEFIT would it be to see Brian dead? ... RIGHT?! ... 1969 was a bad year: The Beatles broke-up, Brian Jones "died," and The Rolling Stones had to suffer their own DEGREE OF MURDER (indeed!) during Altamont. ... The Beatles and The Stones had a lot in common, but especially astrologically. Both bands had a combination of 2 trines and 2 squares. In the Beatles, Lennon (Libra) and McCartney (Gemini) were both trined AIR signs, whereas Harrison (Pisces) and Starr (Cancer) were both trined WATER signs. Also, Lennon was "squared" to Starr, and McCartney was "squared" to Harrison. ... In the Stones, Jones (Pisces) and Wyman (Scorpio) were both trined WATER signs, whereas Jagger (Leo) and Richards (Sagittarius) are both trined FIRE signs. Jones was "squared" to Richards, and Wyman was "squared" to Jagger. The 5th member of The Stones, Charlie Watts (a Gemini), is "opposite" Richards, "sextiled" to Jagger, "inconjunct" to Wyman, and ALSO "squared" to Jones. THIS made Brian the odd man out, with a DOUBLE-SQUARE against him!! Oppositions are no picnic, but they harbour a certain degree of respect. Squares, on the other hand, can be VERY disrespectful. ... This book sheds much light on the sensitive soul of Brian Jones. Pages 29 and 94 also have some very inuitively perceptive and right-on remarks about serious sociological realities in modern capitalist societies; realities that - as a true artist - Brian found himself at odds with. Yet, unlike Jagger & Richards - who tried to bribe their way out of jail - when Brian got busted the first time, he honestly and openly admitted that the pot and / or hash - and ONLY that - were his. He did not lie! He may have been a petty thief at times, an irresponsible parent, and an abusive misogynist - to say nothing of his alcohol abuse - but he was honorable, dignified, and true to his artistic and individualistic spirit till the end. ... He loved music. Brian Jones was a Dionysiac Adonis and a Lord of The Muse, who he served with all his heart and soul. ... This book sheds light on the truth. If you love Brian Jones, if you love The Rolling Stones, and if you love the music that inspired them all to devote their lives to it, then you MUST read this short, but very insightful, book by Jeremy Reed. It is truly a labor of love. - The Aeolian Kid.

... This book about the life, death, and character of Brian Jones is absolutely as beautiful as it is chilling! ... Jeremy Reed has the gifted ability to transcend time and space and bring us right into the heart and soul - and life circumstances at the time of his death - of Brian Jones, founder and one-time leader of The Rolling Stones. ... I do not know if the conclusion of this book is true...and why did they NOT insist on a thorough, precise, and intense investigation into his death?! THIS question haunts me MORE than if Brian was murdered or died of "misadventure...So, the real question to ask is: If Brian Jones was murdered, WHY was Brian murdered - and more importantly - to WHOSE BENEFIT would it be to see Brian dead? ... RIGHT?!... This book sheds much light on the sensitive soul of Brian Jones. Pages 29 and 94 also have some very inuitively perceptive and right-on remarks about serious sociological realities in modern capitalist societies; realities that - as a true artist - Brian found himself at odds with... when Brian got busted the first time, he honestly and openly admitted that the pot and / or hash - and ONLY that - were his. He did not lie! He may have been a petty thief at times, an irresponsible parent, and an abusive misogynist - to say nothing of his alcohol abuse - but he was honorable, dignified, and true to his artistic and individualistic spirit till the end. ... He loved music. Brian Jones was a Dionysiac Adonis and a Lord of The Muse, who he served with all his heart and soul. ... This book sheds light on the truth. If you love Brian Jones, if you love The Rolling Stones, and if you love the music that inspired them all to devote their lives to it, then you MUST read this short, but very insightful, book by Jeremy Reed. It is truly a labor of love. - The Aeolian Kid.

Pearce begins his book pompously: "I am convinced that [this book] penetrates to the very core of its subject." Yet, rather than provide insight into Wilde as Pearce claims, the book is only the Reader's Digest version of Ellmann's biography. If you are short on time and want an overview of Wilde's life and work, you could do worse. Just don't expect perceptive analysis.

There seem to be two types of Oscar Wilde biographies. One, treats him like a sexual martyr and hardly gets into his huge talents at all. The other talks only about his career and treats the episode with Lord Alfred Douglass like a spot on an otherwise pristine carpet. Jospeh Pearce refuses to take either path. He looks at Oscar Wilde, the man, the artist and the broken soul. Wilde had some ideas about himself and was like Herod, fascinated by religion but was unable to stir himself to change. He a genius and was spoiled, pampered and protected by his class and talent but that left him totally unprepared for a brute of a man like the Marquiss of Queensbury.

Pearce is gentle with Wilde but he doesn't excuse him. Wilde failed his wife and his sons miserably and the nameless, faceless rent boys of London weren't just props, they were shabbily used human beings. Pearce makes this all clear but he also discusses the hope of Wilde's life, his last minute conversion. Give this well written book a try. It is a completely different and fresh look at Oscar Wilde.

Before reading this biography all I knew about Oscar Wilde was that he was oversexed and the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Joseph Peace does a good job of revealing Wilde's upbringing, studies, and career. In fact I am now reading and pondering other works of Wilde's like, De Profundis.

The author seems harsh to Wilde's lovers and most forgiving of the "Wilde Life." The book paints a picture of Oscar Wilde as a gifted artist who, as his life progressed, became a moral degenirate and a drunkard, in that order. Wilde apparently felt and even expressed remorse, but seemed incapable of acting on it. Yes, "We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." But, that said, Oscar Wilde was predatory in his pursuit of and obsession with younger men. As Pearce points out, Wilde's sin destroyed his family and destroyed him. Wilde died almost friendless and a pauper. Wilde didn't seem so much interested in love as he did in pleasure. What Wilde expressed on paper he was not capable of in himself. The book is an interesting study of the decadent movement of the 19th century in art and literature, and will open the reader up to lesser known writers and artists, who were Wilde's contemporaries. Pearce does make the reader feel sad for Wilde as he was brilliantly talented, but morally a train wreck. Over all, not a bad read and a good introduction to the life of Oscar Wilde.

This very readable book is very useful corrective to what's become the "standard" view of Wilde. It's especially good at exposing the weaknesses of Richard Ellman's now-standard biography of Wilde. For example, the claim that Wilde contracted (and later died of) syphillis is pretty much taken apart by Pearce.

Pearce has also very closely read Wilde's works, so he offers some very valuable readings of Wilde's writing in order to better understand Wilde's inner life--a life, according to Pearce, that was marked by inner loathing and a self-rebuffed desire to embrace the Church.

Ellman's book remains the standard biography in terms of prose quality (Ellman wrote with uncommon beauty and grace, and Ellman's enthusiasm for Wilde's work and personality is truly infectious). However, Pearce's book really should be must reading for all fans of Wilde's work. It doesn't merely trot out all the old information and anecdotes, but actually offers a fresh view of Wilde.

I must admit that I have never held Oscar Wilde in much esteem as a serious writer. My sister is a fan and she bought this book. I had a browse through and it is what I had expected. This book will appeal to those who imagine themselves as intelligent and sophisticated. Although they may be entertained, they will learn nothing of consequence. Do not be fooled by Wilde's pseudo-philosophical style. There is nothing to be gained from a reading of this book besides mild, and brief, entertainment, or the satisfaction of knowing you can apprieciate the wit of a supposed intellectual, who is in fact nothing of the sort.

I would also like to correct a mistake I noticed in a previous review. Oscar Wilde is not an 'English Gentleman' - He is in fact from Ireland.

This small book is very big in biting power. It is a compilation of witty and revealing bits of Oscar Wilde's genius. If you don't want to sift through all Wilde's works, or the dog ate his books that you had in the basement, or maybe at your age you don't remember the fundamental lessons that you read about style, wit and life by this English gentleman THEN YOU MUST BUY THIS BOOK.
A comprehensive little manual that will enable you to outwit your opponents and reach the epythome of the educated insult (which is very interesting because you will be able to start insulting your boss, without any consequences. Or maybe you will be promoted...)

Ever wanted to be one of those know-it-alls at parties with those great haughty insults and witty remarks?

Buy this book and never worry again. Definatly a good buy. Fun, Funny, and Educational (?). If you like Oscar Wilde, you'll like this book.

i havent finished this book but i loved the two plays i have read. ive just begun the third and plan on finishing all of them soon. keep in mind that wilde uses satire and do a little research on the background of this time period and wilde himself. they are wonderful plays and are very humorous.

"The Importance of Being Earnest and Four Other Plays" - I only read the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" and it shall be the only play I read from this collection. I found this play to be pure rubbish with no redeemable moral plot to it. There was no point to this play. All I got out of reading this piece of trash was how gullible women were during the 18th century and how ashamed I was of the females in this play. I do not recommend.

You're stupid. You obviously do not know that Oscar Wilde's plays were comedy of errors and that he was mocking society. You obviously do not know anything about the historical context about the time period when the plays were written in. Go read children's books that you can only obviously understand. Oscar Wilde's plays are the greatest plays written in the 19th century, and many would agree with me.

Honestly - the book came brand new, but it didn't have any of the footnotes that other people's versions had. I was disappointed by that. Also, the pages are HUGE with small print. Don't get this version if you're reading it for a book club or school, you'll be disappointed.

I ordered the book having read it already, just to have it for my library. It has a beautiful geometric pattern cover, which looks better on the computer screen than in real life. I prefer the hard-cover edition, but this one will make a nice, inexpensive, but meaningful gift.

Oscar Wilde was one of the foremost representatives of Aestheticism, a movement based on the notion that art exists for no other purpose than its existence itself ("l'art pour l'art"), not for the purpose of social and moral enlightenment. Born in Dublin and a graduate of Oxford's Magdalen College, he initially worked primarily as a journalist, editor and lecturer, but gradually turned to writing and produced his most acclaimed works in the six-year span from 1890 to 1895, roughly coinciding with the period of his romantic involvement with Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, sixteen years his junior. Douglas's strained relationship with his father, John Sholto Douglas, Marquees of Queensberry, eventually resulted in a series of confrontations between Wilde and the Marquees, which first led to a libel suit brought by Wilde against his lover's father (who had openly accused Wilde of "posing as a sodomite" and threatened to disown his son if he didn't give up his acquaintance with the writer) and subsequently to two criminal trials against Wilde for "gross indecencies," based on a law generally interpreted to prohibit homosexual relationships. Sentenced to a two-year term of "hard labor" in Reading Gaol, Wilde emerged from prison in 1897 a spiritually, physically and financially broken man and, unable to continue living in England or Ireland, after three years' wanderings throughout Europe died in 1900 of cerebral meningitis, barely 46 years old.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray," Wilde's only novel besides seven plays as well as several works of short fiction, poetry, nonfiction and two fairy tale collections originally written for his two sons, is critical to an understanding of Wilde's body of work and his personality primarily for two reasons: First, because it constitutes one of his earliest fully accomplished formulations of Aestheticism, and secondly because of its undeniable undercurrent of homoeroticism; an inclination which, after a six-year marriage widely thought to initially have been a true love match, Wilde had begun to explore more openly around the time of the novel's creation (1890). The story's title character is an exceptionally handsome young man who, both in the eyes of the artist tasked to paint his portrait, Basil Hallward, and in those of their somewhat older friend Lord Henry Wotton, epitomizes perfect beauty and is coveted by both men for that very reason. Seduced by hedonistic Lord Henry into believing that beauty can literally justify anything, including any act of immorality, Dorian sells his soul for maintaining his beautiful appearance, letting his portrait age in his stead. (In that, his character resembles Goethe's and Marlowe's Faust.) He then quickly turns from an innocent youth into a cruel and calculating man whom society, in its shallow adherence to appearances, nonetheless never associates with any of the results of his cruelty, never looking beyond the surface of his handsome exterior and assuming that a man so beautiful must necessarily also be good. Ultimately it is Dorian himself who brings about his own downfall when he is no longer able to face the manifestation of his evilness in Basil Hallward's picture.

Upon its initial publication in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" was widely scorned as immoral by a public neither familiar with nor particularly open to the concepts of Aestheticism and its mockery of middle class morality, and repulsed by the thinly veiled homoerotic relationship of the novel's protagonists. Wilde republished the work the following year, adding a preface designed to explain his views on art. Yet, it was that preface which, along with several of his other publications and his written exchanges with Lord Alfred Douglas, ultimately would play a devastating role in his trials, where Queensberry's attorney would come to use an excerpt from that very preface -- "There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written" -- to extract from Wilde statements to the effect that any book inspiring a sense of beauty (including, as implied in the attorney's question, an "immoral" book, if "The Picture of Dorian Gray" could be qualified as such) was well-written and therefore commendable; that only Philistines, brutes and illiterates -- whose views on art he considered invariably stupid and for which he therefore didn't "care twopence" -- could consider this novel "perverted," and that the majority of the reading public would probably not be able to draw a proper distinction between a good and a bad book. It was testimony such as this, as well as the impending confrontation with a number of male witnesses ready to testify as to the nature of their relationship with Wilde, that not only caused the author's attorney to convince his client to drop the libel suit against Queensberry but also opened the door for Wilde's own subsequent prosecution.

If "The Picture of Dorian Gray" has a central theme besides the supremacy of beauty and the depiction of a society primarily interested in appearances, it is a call for individuality: Dorian's cruelty is brought out only after he allows himself to be influenced by Lord Henry's equally seductive and cynical hedonism; and similarly, Basil Hallward's blind idolizing of Dorian eventually proves fatal for the painter. -- Wilde's only novel is one of the first and most poignant expressions of his own individualism; but unlike his protagonist, who ultimately pays a ghastly prize for selling his soul and giving up his individuality, Wilde paid as high a price for maintaining his. Like Dorian, he knew that "[e]ach of us has Heaven and Hell in him," and although this novel's preface ends with the provocative statement that "[a]ll art is quite useless," it was the very fact that Wilde put his entire being into his art that ultimately destroyed him. But like beauty, which is finally restored to perfection in Dorian Gray's portrait, Wilde's works have stood the test of time; and not merely for their countless, pricelessly witty epigrams. They're as well worth a read as ever.

Mr. Oscar Wilde certainly fulfilled his end of the deal in uttering the wonderful words of wit contained in this small book.

Upon finding this book on display in a major bookstore, time flew by while I read through the whole miniature thing.

While walking up to the cashier to purchase it, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. Damn! The words on the back flap of the dust jacket read: "Printed in China."

I'm sure that Mr. Wilde would have some sharp words to say about a book of his work - words celebrating love of life and liberty - being produced in a country ran by a dictator - one that routinely uses either slave labor (in the form of "political" prisoners) or indentured servants (as in people who are not allowed to either quit or leave a job once taken) in their state-run industries.

I recommend Wilde's work wholeheartedly - but to purchase this tainted volume would certainly be unjust.

very good book. his talk about women is funny. His qoute all amke perfect sense....( i think.

Yes, this is a tiny book, but it is worth owning. Wilde has issued forth enough wonderful quotes to fill a much larger tome, but, that said, this is a nice novelty item. The diminutive book is packed with great photos of Wilde, the quotes that made him famous, as well as many quirky illustrations of the author.
Enjoy these quips from the man who uttered "either this wallpaper goes or I do" as his final words. I highly encourage you to also read Wilde's only novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray.