Frank Harris (1) (1855–1931)

I was expecting Harris's biography of Oscar Wilde to be hagiographic, or at the very least to gloss over some of Wilde's less attractive features (Harris was, after all, a friend of Wilde's), but he has, on the whole, refrained from such dishonesty; although the integrity of certain accounts is questionable, the work nonetheless presents a fairly balanced account of Wilde's personality, noting his demerits alongside his many merits. It is tempting to compare this to Richard Ellmann's show more biography of Wilde, but to do so exhaustively would, I think, be unfair – it is true that Ellmann's work offers a more detailed, objective examination, but the two biographies approach their subject from very different perspectives and are thus to some extent incomparable. Ellmann's work is detached and rather academic, whereas Harris's is unashamedly personal and should be read as more memoir than biography (this is not a bad thing). If I could recommend only one of these works I would undoubtedly select Ellmann's, but as I suffer no such constraint I would not hesitate in recommending this work to the casual reader as the more enjoyable of the two, albeit with the caveat that it should not be used as one's sole source when furthering one's study of Wilde (of course when furthering one's study in any area, a 'sole source' will always lead to trouble). Despite its minor flaws, Harris's account of Wilde is of undeniable value to the Wilde scholar and should be treasured as such.

To end with a wonderfully prophetic quote attributed to Wilde by Harris:

"It is all ignorant prejudice, Frank; the world is slowly growing more tolerant and one day men will be ashamed of their barbarous treatment of me [...]" (p. 292; London: Robinson, 1997).

How right he was. show less

He always reminds me of Henry Miller. I expect both of them to be short - it's hard to understand their behaviour otherwise. Checks that, and yes, little men who had to find ways to make themselves look bigger. Sexual conquest it is, then. But whereas Miller hated women and had to make it all literary, Harris was content with a straightforward enthusiastically pornographic approach in the Victorian tradition.

I can only assume it was all in their dreams. It's impossible to imagine anybody show more wanting to shag either of them... show less

He always reminds me of Henry Miller. I expect both of them to be short - it's hard to understand their behaviour otherwise. Checks that, and yes, little men who had to find ways to make themselves look bigger. Sexual conquest it is, then. But whereas Miller hated women and had to make it all literary, Harris was content with a straightforward enthusiastically pornographic approach in the Victorian tradition.

I can only assume it was all in their dreams. It's impossible to imagine anybody show more wanting to shag either of them... show less

He always reminds me of Henry Miller. I expect both of them to be short - it's hard to understand their behaviour otherwise. Checks that, and yes, little men who had to find ways to make themselves look bigger. Sexual conquest it is, then. But whereas Miller hated women and had to make it all literary, Harris was content with a straightforward enthusiastically pornographic approach in the Victorian tradition.

I can only assume it was all in their dreams. It's impossible to imagine anybody show more wanting to shag either of them... show less