
Conversations with Wilde
A Fictional Dialogue Based on Biographical Facts
Merlin Holland(Author)
Watkins Publishing
Published on 11. June 2019
Book
Hardback
128 pages
978-1-78678-230-4 (ISBN)
Description
Renowned for his endlessly quotable pronouncements, Oscar Wilde cut a dashing figure in late Victorian London ... until his tragic downfall resulting from an ill-judged libel action. We remember him not only for his famous trial and imprisonment, but also for a "devil's dictionary" of timeless aphorisms and for the enduring brilliance of plays such as The Importance of Being Earnest.
Wilde's life resembles his early short story, "The Remarkable Rocket", which, rising from nowhere in a shower of sparks, explodes and falls to earth, exclaiming as it goes out, "I knew I should create a great sensation." Merlin Holland expertly traces the arc of his illustrious ancestor's life, from his birth in Dublin in 1854 as Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, to a brilliant career at Oxford University where his reputation for dandyish wit was first honed, through to his conquest of the drawing rooms and theatres of fashionable London, culminating in disgrace and imprisonment at the hands of the Marquess of Queensberry in the most notorious libel trial in English history. Wilde died in penury and obscurity in 1900, yet his reputation today has never been greater. This engaging and innovative short book features a concise biographical essay on Wilde's meteoric career, followed by a Q&A interview based on Wilde's own words and Merlin Holland's unrivalled knowledge of his grandfather's life, work and puckish observations.
This sparkling biography does full justice to Oscar Wilde's writerly genius and irrepressible humanity. It offers readers a renewed appreciation for a man who at times scandalised his era as much as he delights our own.
Wilde's life resembles his early short story, "The Remarkable Rocket", which, rising from nowhere in a shower of sparks, explodes and falls to earth, exclaiming as it goes out, "I knew I should create a great sensation." Merlin Holland expertly traces the arc of his illustrious ancestor's life, from his birth in Dublin in 1854 as Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, to a brilliant career at Oxford University where his reputation for dandyish wit was first honed, through to his conquest of the drawing rooms and theatres of fashionable London, culminating in disgrace and imprisonment at the hands of the Marquess of Queensberry in the most notorious libel trial in English history. Wilde died in penury and obscurity in 1900, yet his reputation today has never been greater. This engaging and innovative short book features a concise biographical essay on Wilde's meteoric career, followed by a Q&A interview based on Wilde's own words and Merlin Holland's unrivalled knowledge of his grandfather's life, work and puckish observations.
This sparkling biography does full justice to Oscar Wilde's writerly genius and irrepressible humanity. It offers readers a renewed appreciation for a man who at times scandalised his era as much as he delights our own.
More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Watkins Media Limited
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 183 mm
Width: 108 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
151 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78678-230-4 (9781786782304)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
06/2019
Watkins Publishing
€14.49
Available for download
Persons
Simon Callow is a film, TV and theatre actor, as well as a writer.He played Oscar Wilde on stage in TheImportance of Being Oscar, and his books include Oscar Wilde and His Circle.