This was certainly an interesting read, especially when paired with Wilde's original. I found the outright homosexuality of the characters much better in tune with the story and their dialogue and relationships than Wilde's vaguely heterosexual characters. Self's version also did a better job of character development overall-- the book was more of a full and complex novel, rather than an allegory. I especially liked the portrayal of Baz and Wotton (much more sympathetic), while Dorian was all the more evil and cruel. The first Part of the book was a bit hard to take-- graphic and even gory drugs and sex. Maybe realistic-- I don't know. His writing is really over the top with rarely seen vocabulary, but it didn't interrupt the flow too much. I'm not sure I cared for the Epilogue, but it did add an unexpected twist to a story that you think you know. This book is not for everyone, but I'm a straight, drug free, American female and I liked it pretty well. ( )

Interesting, though occasionally causes gagging due to sheer decadence, which is probably Self's idea...Best enjoyed by those who have read, or at least are familiar with, The Picture of Dorian Grey...There are some clever updates here that restore a great deal of the novel's original potency...the painting that ages instead of Dorian has been replaced by a video installation, and all those clove cigarettes and faint whispers of opium are now simply good ol' smack...manages to show a modern audience just how decadent Wilde's short novel was to audiences of the 1890's...but though Self does manage to create a Lord Henry Wotton that has all the self-absorbed indestructibility of the original, Wilde's supercharged wit is sorely missed, especially when the novel gets depressing in the second half. The novel begins in the early 80's, with all the drugs and easily cured STDs the era implies...but then AIDS shows up. Despite the occasional shortcomings of the story, Self is one of those writers--John Updike is another, and John Cheever and Raymond Chandler and Ronald Firbank--who write absolutely wonderful prose. The language itself is beautiful--great metaphors, the sentences are poised just right and give off a dull sheen that reeks of effortlessness.

All in all, it's a cross between Bret Easton Ellis and J.K. Huysmans (who wrote the ne plus ultra of decadence, "A Rebours," or "Against Nature") ( )