Wildeana (riverrun editions)

Description

Oscar Wilde's early fame ensured that throughout his short life he was written about by many of those he met. He was celebrated - or mocked - as the master of the ingenious epigram, the provocative paradox, the witty aside or the extravagant conceit. In researching his monumental biography of Wilde Matthew Sturgis found, in every major archive, sheets of foolscap in Wilde's distinctive handwriting, setting down a series of unfamiliar epigrams - unpublished try-outs. There were fascinating new discoveries. He uncovered dozens of unfamiliar and previously ungathered anecdotes about Wilde: sidelights on his days in Oxford, London, America and Paris and beyond, by society hostesses, men-about-town, actors, lawyers, minor litterateurs, artists and politicians, diligently setting down his actions, his mannerisms and above all his sayings. The items in this volume are all small additions to the Wilde story: some unfamiliar, others unexpected, they enrich and alter the picture of his life.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) was born in Dublin. He attended Trinity College Dublin, and - later - Magdalen College, Oxford. During a life crowded with incident he achieved great success as a playwright, and fame as a wit. Matthew Sturgis is the author of Oscar: A Life - hailed as 'simply the best modern biography of Wilde. He has also written acclaimed lives of Aubrey Beardsley and Walter Sickert, as well as Passionate Attitudes - a history of the English Decadence of the fin-de-siecle. He has been described - by A.N. Wilson in the TLS - as 'the greatest chronicle of the 1890s we have ever had.'

Wildeana is an intriguing, entertaining miscellany of recollections, letters, descriptions, skits, about Oscar Wilde by his contemporaries, as well as scraps of his own writing. An enlightening collection, perfect for dipping into, for Oscar Wilde fans and newcomers alike. * Tatler (Autumn books roundup) *