Customer Reviews

Oscar Wilde Discovers America: A Novel

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This book is a step back in history narrated in the language of the times, which is quite realistic. It is told from a quite different viewpoint, not of Oscar Wilde, but beautifully described by his black valet who accompanied Oscar on his nationwide American tour. The book starts out in January 1882, as Oscar arrives in New York to begin his tour. At the time no mention was made in the press of his black valet named William Traquair, who accompanied him. As Wilde entertains the New World with his lectures and humor, Traquair enjoys what he will always remember as the best year in his life.

This is an engrossing and intriguing story that certainly gives us a much clearer perspective on what it must have been like in America at the turn of the century and especially what impact this time period had on black men.

A story that?s both fact and fiction, and one that will make you fantasize that you are right there on tour with Wilde and Traquair traveling across America at a time when life on this continent was so young and open to suggestion. I enjoyed this story and I feel the author has accomplished what he intended to do by taking us clearly back in time!

Joe Hanssen

What a great idea -- to focus on the black valet who accompanied Wilde on his great American speaking tour in the early 1880s. Edwards does a passable job explicating this premise, and in the process explores race and class relationships in America, as he takes the reader on a wild ride through late 19th Century America.

Don't buy this historical fiction if you want all Wilde, all the time, the story is really about the valet, a proud, handsome, educated free black who faced withering racism as Wilde's travels took them to the deep South.

It's a wild road novel that would make a fine movie.

Louis Edwards does a wonderful job of capturing the America of the late 19th century, particularly as seen through the eyes of Oscar Wilde. Using Wilde's actual lecture tour of America as the basis for his novel, Edwards captures the rhythm and tone of Wilde's speech and his commentaries are very much in character. It is through Edwards' preoccupation with Wilde's valet, Traquair that the novel comes up a bit short. As the story is told through Traquair, we have to participate in his "coming of age" tale, while Wilde proves to be the more fascinating character. Poor Traquair just isn't a strong enough a creation to stand up to Wilde's charisma and the novel suffers for it. I understand that Edwards felt he needed a focus for his work other than Wilde; perhaps concerned that Oscar might wear out his welcome over the course of the novel, but whenever Wilde left center stage I found my attention to Traquair's story wavering and I just couldn't wait for Wilde's reappearance.

This novel is actuallly not really about Oscar Wilde as much as it is about a black valet who accompanied him on his tour of America. The story is of an educated black man's discovery of himself in the late nineteenth century. I was intrigued by the concept, which is why I bought the book. Honestly, I didn't have much hope for the writing before I got into it but it was really pretty decent. Edwards to a very good job of capturing Oscar Wilde's quick wit and the characters are well developed. The feel of the time is about right, especially for the type of reaction an educated black man might get at that time.

My only disappointment was that I felt some of the dialogue was a bit overdone. Not so much as to ruin the novel, but at times it was a bit distracting.

On the positive side, Edwards does a good job with the structure of this novel, which has several complex parallel stories. Also, I think it was well researched - the author relied on numerous newspaper accounts of the time to capture the public enthusiasm and scepticism of Wilde's tour. Overall, it is a very worthwhile book. I will be looking for more from this author in the future.

This book is very unique, because it is written from the eyes of an imaginative "black helper," who is assumed to serve Oscar wilde, a famous "real" aesthete from England. Moreover, the title of the book is named after a well-known criticism "Oscar Wilde Discovers America." If really a black helper had been near Wilde when he toured across America, probably some events written thtoughout this book would have occurred around them. In that way, the story continues to the last scene. So, from various viewpoints, this book is significant. It is not only intersting, but also useful to common readers as well as O.W. scholars. And the book I bought this time is just like brand-new. So I just like it very much.

Although, for the most part, I enjoyed "Oscar Wilde Discovers America," I felt that it was too fantastical for the serious societal and family concerns the author was tackling, however tangentially. The idea that a young black man, no matter how attractive and well-educated, could move so freely in 19th century US society as Traquair is depicted, is asking the reader to abandon all practical knowledge of our convoluted and violent racial history.

Traquair may have been "sheltered" while under the care of his well-heeled abolitionist household in cosmopolitan New York, but in the entire book there was only one scuffle over his free access to all things of white America, which took place on a sleeper train in the deep South. I have to believe even in the post Civil War North, a black valet would not have achieved such entry to the drawing rooms and dining tables of the wealthy and influential.

And it's not only racial issues that we're asked to ignore, but those of Mr Wilde's demeanor and sexual orientation as well. As funny as the episode may have read in the book, I have a real problem imagining a bunch of rough & tumble miners accepting Oscar Wilde into their midst, enchanting them with his knee breeches and poetic rendition of Jesse James' final moments. Seriously, would that happen even today?

To me, the author had not entirely made up his mind about how he was presenting his characters and story. Was it a fantasy or was it to be taken as a serious coming of age tale in a pivotal time in our history? Perhaps I was simply trying to read "Oscar Wilde Discovers America" too literally, maybe I needed to let go of my pragmatism. It is an entertaining...if stilted...book. But be prepared to let all credulity fly with the winds.

I was very skeptical about this book, but the first few chapters pleasantly surprised me. The author seemed to perfectly capture Wilde's unmistakable and eloquent wit, something I thought would be impossible. I thought the concept was wonderful as well. However, the book quickly loses steam as it focuses more on the valet, who's far less interesting than Wilde. But then again, who isn't?

The idea that Mr Wilde discovered America is clearly too absurd to warrant a novel which anybody will find plausible. This book is offensive to the descendants of Christopher Columbus. Mr Wilde never did anything of any note other than write some unfunny plays and get himself thrown in prison. Avoid.