The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde [Hardcover]

Oscar Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1991 | ISBN-10: 0809590646 | ISBN-13: 978-0809590643

Wilde's works are suffused with his aestheticism, brilliant craftsmanship, legendary wit and, ultimately, his tragic muse. He wrote tender fairy stories for children employing all his grace, artistry and wit, of which the best-known is The Happy Prince. Counterpoints to this were his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, which shocked and outraged many readers of his day, and his stories for adults which exhibited his fascination with the relations between serene art and decadent life. Wilde took London by storm with his plays, particularly his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest. His essays - in particular De Profundis- and his Ballad of Reading Gaol, both written after his release from prison, strikingly break the bounds of his usual expressive range. His other essays and poems are all included in this comprehensive collection of the works of one of the most exciting writers of the late nineteenth century.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`This new edition has all the expertise one expects of sucha volume.' Contemporary Review March 2001 --Wordsworth Editions --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Born in Ireland in 1856, Oscar Wilde was a noted essayist, playwright, fairy tale writer and poet, as well as an early leader of the Aesthetic Movement. His plays include: An Ideal Husband, Salome, A Woman of No Importance, and Lady Windermere's Fan. Among his best known stories are The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Borgo Pr (June 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809590646
• ISBN-13: 978-0809590643
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,270,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford where, a disciple of Pater, he founded an aesthetic cult. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, and his two sons were born in 1885 and 1886.
His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and social comedies Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), established his reputation. In 1895, following his libel action against the Marquess of Queesberry, Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual conduct, as a result of which he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), and his confessional letter De Profundis (1905). On his release from prison in 1897 he lived in obscurity in Europe, and died in Paris in 1900.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't leave home without it, July 26, 2005

By 

MaratsBathing "Sail" (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Stories, Plays, Poems & Essays (Paperback)

If you believe literature's main purpose in existence is to induce pleasure, you could probably never find a better writer than Oscar Wilde.

All his plays are absolute delights from start to finish, even the ones that aren't The Importance of Being Earnest. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a fantastic novel and a deserved classic. His poetry's derivative, but not bad by any stretch of the imagination. His stories, essays, letters, collections of epigrams, and other various writings are excellent reading as well, if you don't mind occasional melodrama or other minor missteps.

This is a relatively expensive collection, but one that is well worth it. I don't regret spending a penny. The print's a readable size and, to my somewhat expansive knowledge on Wilde, none of his writings have been omitted or forgotten.

Essential for those who want to enjoy literature while allowing it to expand the mind, but also looking for something deeper than Tuesdays With Morrie or other modern, popular tripe.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read, great fly-swat!, October 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Stories, Plays, Poems & Essays (Paperback)

Whoa! I was totally unfamiliar with the works of Oscar Wilde, until I bought this one on a friend's recommendation. It's huuuuuge, yet incredibly beautiful. Dorian Gray must be one of the greatest stories ever told, his poems are razor-sharp, his letters not less, and every line he comes up with is quotable. If you want to make sure you don't miss a thing, this is the book to get (and try his biography, especially the part about the trial).

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complete works is just that!, June 24, 2002

By 

Marilyn A. Campbell "govpurchaser" (Dayton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Stories, Plays, Poems & Essays (Paperback)

Most paperbacks the size of this one, nearly 3" wide, are hard to hold onto but the quality of this paperback is very good and text size easily readable. So far I have found every Oscar Wilde entry I was looking. Highly recommend.