Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
Genre |
Biography |
Subject |
Authors, Irish |
Publication Date |
1/12/1988 |
Format |
Hardcover (9.8
mm)
|
Publisher |
Knopf |
Language |
English |
Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover; Remainder |
|
Description |
The biography sensitive to the tragic pattern of the story of a great subject: Oscar Wilde - psychologically and sexually complicated, enormously quotable, central to a alluring cultural world and someone whose life assumed an unbearably dramatic shape. |
Personal Details |
Purchase Price |
$3.00 |
Condition |
Fine/Fine |
Rating |
0 |
|
Product Details |
LoC Classification |
PR5823.E38 1988 |
Dewey |
828/.809 |
ISBN |
0394554841 |
Cover Price |
$24.95 |
No. of Pages |
680 |
First Edition |
No |
Rare |
No |
|
Notes/Review |
Lately it seems I'm never happy with the length and level of detail of biographies. This one was a bit too long and detailed for me. I was curious about Wilde, but not to the degree that I wanted to read the letters he wrote his mother. I think I'd have enjoyed it more at 400 pages than 600. But this quibble is more about me than the book.
I didn't know much about Wilde. I hadn't read any of his poems and wasn't familiar with his plays and his other work. I probably learned what I knew about him from Monty Python skits. The book interested me enough to seek out a few of his plays.
My main take-away from the book is that love isn't just blind, it's stupid as well. Wilde was arguably a genius, but he allowed his love to destroy him utterly. |
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