Oscar Wilde

Richard Ellman won the Pulitzer for his work on Oscar Wilde, and with good reason: it's not only the definitive look at the Irish poet, playwright, critic, and martyr, but it's also a ripping good read. Wilde was a movie star in a time before movies, a tabloid staple, and a constant bestseller, and Ellmann makes him -- and his work -- come alive.

Following Wilde's rise to literary and theatrical fame, a series of colossally bad decisions lead to his imprisonment and disgrace -- another ending we know is coming and want desperately for our subject to avoid. In Ellmann's capable hands -- especially as he traces the poet's final frustrating years -- Wilde emerges not so much a victim of Victorian morals but rather of his own ego and show more genius. And we're more than ready to forgive him for it. show less

This is the definitive biography of the in/famous Oscar Wilde. Ellmann's description of Wilde is wonderful. His skilllful portrayal of Wilde's extravagant lifestyle is disarming in its honesty and captures Wilde's compassion and his humanity. Wilde is well-known for his devotion to triviality and his esteemable wit, but Ellmann sees through the quotations and the persona. His assessment of Wilde's literary style is important, but ultimately it is his faithful description of Wilde the person that wins the reader over. Wilde's mantra, that all life imitates art, resonates throughout this biography and by fate, or self-fulfillment, culminates in his tragic demise. "Though he offered himself as the apostle of pleasure, his created work show more contains much pain." show less

There is no doubt about the quality of this biography. Every facet of Wilde is revealed in careful context and Ellmann is in sympathy with this larger than life character "laughing and weeping with parables and paradoxes".
He shows Wilde to be an extreme egoist who diligently builds up his "succès de scandale" seeking extensive letters of introduction before visiting America or France and pushing for meetings with the artistically famous. He becomes the leading "decadent" in already decadent late Victorian society with his silly aphorisms eg. "It's always a mistake to be innocent. To be criminal takes imagination and courage" - "the perfect hedonist is the saint ..... one is always good when one is happy" etc. etc. As a fashion show more socialist he forsees with approval the "annihilation of property, family life, marriage and jealousy" and he certainly annihilated his own marriage with his lies, broken promises and homosexual relationships.
He ends his life a lonely and penniless vagabond around Paris cafés.
A good book but I don't like the subject. show less

Many biographies have subtitles such as "his/her life and times", but few live up to it. This work more than meets the test in its comprehensive look at both, and will cause the reader to rush out and read more either about or written by Wilde. Tremendous writing!

My favourite biography of all time. It's a wonderful, thorough and considered evaluation of Wilde's life as an artist, a public man and a family man. A truly remarkable book and in my 'all time top ten' books.

The only biography - quite simply a masterpiece. (Except for the unfortunate photograph of 'Oscar' in drag, mistakenly identified by Ellmann.)

Maybe the best literary biography ever written.