This very readable book is very useful corrective to what's become the "standard" view of Wilde. It's especially good at exposing the weaknesses of Richard Ellman's now-standard biography of Wilde. For example, the claim that Wilde contracted (and later died of) syphillis is pretty much taken apart by Pearce.

Pearce has also very closely read Wilde's works, so he offers some very valuable readings of Wilde's writing in order to better understand Wilde's inner life--a life, according to Pearce, that was marked by inner loathing and a self-rebuffed desire to embrace the Church.

Ellman's book remains the standard biography in terms of prose quality (Ellman wrote with uncommon beauty and grace, and Ellman's enthusiasm for Wilde's work and personality is truly infectious). However, Pearce's book really should be must reading for all fans of Wilde's work. It doesn't merely trot out all the old information and anecdotes, but actually offers a fresh view of Wilde.

This audio drama contains four short stories by great authors such as Henry James and Oscar Wilde. In my opinion, Wilde's Canterville Ghost is the best of the four. The special sound effect are both scary and humourous. Wilde's weird sense of humor about a British old ghost meets his match of an American family is perfectly interpreted in audio form by the producer of this audiobook.

This book is truly gorgeous with its fantastic close up photographs of details of 20th century garments. There are chapters devoted to bows, to buttons, sleeves and so on. This book actually came before Avril Hart's "Fashion in detail - 17th & 18th Century Clothes" and together they will keep you occupied for many hours. I only wish there were more volumes. Sheer heaven!

This beautiful story about a little bird and a kind golden statue who wants to help the poor will go straight to your heart. Though written for children, the lyrical, witty prose of Oscar Wilde and the book's message of love and charity can also be enjoyed by adults. I read this book to my little brother and my mother and I had them both crying at the end. It makes a wonderful bedtime story and also a wonderful introduction to classic literature.

A gay Londoner of the 80s goes searching for his roots and finds Oscar Wilde, a complex figure early on in the history of the cultural and social construction of twentieth-century homosexuality. If you're interested in Wilde, this is a very good book to read along with Richard Ellman's more standard biography.

This book is the best catagorization of the wit and humor of Oscar Wilde. It gives easy access to the width of his wit. MM

Oscar Wilde is considered a notable writer, but died in poverty in exile in Paris a hundred years ago. Oscar Wilde: A Life In Quotes is a compelling tribute to his life and works as it uses his own writings to examine his sentiments and struggles, adding the author's illustrations and notes to complete a lively, well-rounded presentation.

This edition of Oscar Wilde's work - in addition to its inclusion of much personal correspondence - is a fascinating look at the author and, notably, his personal travails.

The novel, of course, and the plays are classics, but I found the letters to be a juicy narrative all their own. The twists and turns of his doomed affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, affectionately called "Bosie" in touching - and bitter - love notes from prison, are here to peruse. Reading them, you get a sense of Wilde's personal feelings at the time of his famed trial and arrest for sodomy, his anguish at losing Bosie and going to jail. It's fascinating, juicy stuff - made all the more touching by the fact that it all occurred without shame, in plain view, over 100 years ago.

Wilde's a great character, a great author, a good role model for gay life and a hysterical wit. And this book is a must.

Lord Saville one night listens to a chiromantist who tells him he has to commit a crime, whose victim is supposed to be a relative of some kind, before being able to marry his love. The tale is full of humor and shows how he fails, systematically, in his enterprise, because he believes the soothsayer. But the more humoristic the tale becomes, the more desperate Lord Saville grows. Till one night he kills the chiromantist. He has finally been able to rebel against the prediction and this rebellion proves the prediction is a fake. But a second dimension appears in the tale. The chiromantist had been introduced to Lord Saville by some woman who invites such oddities to her parties to amuse the audience. She behaves as if she believed in those ominous birds that she calls lions. And Lord Saville was naive enough to accept this prediction as true and unescapable because it had been introduced to him by this particular woman, in this particular situation. Men must not fall in the traps of social tricks that some women hire to give some life to their social evenings that would be very dull otherwise. Who is wiser? The woman who "animates" her social gatherings with such attractions? Or the man who falls in the trap of believing such predictions? The other tales of the collection are all just as funny by showing how some people are able to go beyond such appearances and reach another level of being that is some kind of game and it becomes a trap to the gullible ones.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

I thought is story was a very interesting one. The story is very desciptive, and it makes you think. From the moment he captures his "love" to the part to part where the priest finally blesses the sea. The only thing that me wonder was about the author maybe he doubted needing a soul, or maybe he really thought that love wasn't worth giving up everything for. Once you read the story it'll be up to decide.

I think the most attrative parts of this story is the descriptive paragraphs.