I’ve adored Oscar Wilde for most of my life. My parents used to buy my six Great Illustrated Classics every Christmas, and my favorite of these when I was about eight was The Picture of Dorian Gray. I can’t even count how many times I read that little abridged classic, but I would say that number is in the literal dozens. In fact, I loved it so much that I was afraid of reading the unabridged classic as an adult, for fear that it wouldn’t measure up to the book I had loved so much as a child. I couldn’t have been more wrong, while the illustrated classic of my childhood gave me the story, it didn’t deliver Wilde’s prose. I had no idea what I was missing. Today, Wilde’s original, unabridged novel is one of my very favorite classics I’ve ever read.

In college, I learned the story behind the author, from his flamboyant personality to his time spent in prison. However, while I found him a very interesting individual at that time, I am now completely fascinated by him. That is mostly thanks to this book. Holland has written one of the most engaging biographies I’ve ever read, in large part due to the informal, conversational format. The author imagined himself interviewing Wilde over a cup of coffee, and he managed to beautifully capture Wilde’s well-known voice in these responses. It was a lovely writing decision. I truly felt as though I was sitting in on an interview with a literary icon, and it was immensely enjoyable.

Wilde was the Freddy Mercury of Victorian England, and the world wasn’t ready for him. He was witty and insanely intelligent and obsessed with all things beautiful and pleasurable. He created gorgeous art that far outlived him, but has been forever remembered for his (at the time) shocking lifestyle decisions and the ramifications he suffered for them. Wilde undoubtedly marched to the beat of his own drum, and couldn’t care less that the majority of society didn’t understand that rhythm.

Holland’s little book did an amazing job presenting Wilde’s life, and I read it in an afternoon. My only complaint is that is wasn’t longer. But I think that this conversational style was a perfect choice for crafting an informative, engaging, highly readable biographical overview of a life that captivated and repelled the world in which he lived. I highly recommend this little book to anyone who has any kind of interest in literary rebels. I would love to read more biographical works written along the same lines, and am very open to recommendations!

Who has not at some point read, overheard or discovered themselves quoting a witty epigram accredited to the Irish dramatist Oscar Wilde? We frequently find ourselves able to “resist everything except temptation” or ironically forgiving our enemies because “nothing annoys them so much”, but how often, I wonder, do we stop to consider the person behind the pithy aphorisms?

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) was a hugely popular playwright and spokesperson for aestheticism in the latter decades of the 19th century. He became successful in numerous spheres, from penning clever essays and writing a Gothic novel (The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890) to lecturing in America and editing a fashionable ladies’ periodical (The Woman’s World). It was, though, with his amusing but subversive comedies of manners that he became a sensation among Victorian theatregoers. At the very height of his celebrity, however, he was convicted for ‘gross indecency with men’ and sentenced to two-years’ hard labour. On his release in 1897, he was broken in body and spirit. He died alone and in penury at the age of 46.

In his excellent Foreword to Conversations with Wilde, Simon Callow describes Oscar’s fame as “never being greater.” Indeed, in the modern world he is widely remembered for being a gifted writer, conversationalist and gay martyr – but this was far from true during his lifetime. Indeed, he was treated as a pariah by the British establishment and cast out of ‘decent’ society. As Callow so impeccably asserts: “His savage treatment at the hands of the English law was for many generations a potent image of its vicious absurdity, and its eventual reform is in some senses a posthumous redemption of his suffering.”

Merlin Holland – biographer, editor and sole grandson of Oscar Wilde – has for many years researched his grandfather’s life and works. In this “fictional dialogue based on biographical facts”, Holland deftly traces his distinguished relative from his birth in Dublin to those heady days at Oxford University; through the scintillating conversations in London’s finest drawing rooms to his great literary triumphs; leading us inexorably towards Lord Alfred Douglas and Wilde’s final humiliating downfall.

This innovative little book – part of a series that currently includes Conversations with JFK by Michael O’Brien and Conversations with Casanova by Derek Parker – presents a biographical essay followed by a question and answer style interview with Oscar, which is greatly enhanced by Holland’s intimate knowledge of his subject.

Conversations with Wilde is an entertaining read tinged with sadness and not a little bitterness for the cruel ruination of a unique talent at the peak of his creative genius. It also brings to the fore the many and varied reasons why almost 120 years after his death we continue to adore Oscar Wilde.

Conversations with Wilde by Merlin Holland is fiction. Yes the author made up the interview questions as well as the answers. And it does feel Wildean. The author has used Wilde's works and comments to make up the answers so it does have verisimilitude. It is a lot of fun and you don't doubt its accuracy. If you like Oscar Wilde you will certainly like these clever conversations. For you it would be a "must read".

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. This book will be available to purchase on June 11th.

I was interested in this book for two reasons: First, I loved The Picture of Dorian Gray. Second, the idea of a fictional conversation with Wilde is fantastically original. The closest to that setup I’ve read is The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, which I really enjoyed, and of course there’s no biographical angle with that.

This book was so much fun! Oscar Wilde was larger than life in many ways, which Holland conveyed with ease. During the course of this book, I realized that I knew far less about his life than I thought. Despite his levity, Oscar Wilde’s life was tragic in many ways.

What set this apart from many other biographies is the sense of fun the entire book had about itself. It really did feel like an interview over cigarettes. I would gladly read more books written in this style by this author.

At less than 200 pages, this books can easily be read in an afternoon, but the facts thrown in, combined with the engaging conversational feel will keep you thinking about it long after you finish the last word. I definitely recommend this fun fact-based fiction.

This lost my interest very quickly. I know that the writer was very knowledgeable about Wilde, but it did not hold a great appeal to me.

Conversations with Oscar Wilde was unlike anything I have ever read. I am by no means an expert of the personal life of Wilde but I am familiar with his works, philosophies, and personal life enough that I can appreciate the care that went into make this work appear authentic. I will admit at first "Wilde's" responses felt forced and almost cheesy but you quickly forgot that you are not actually reading his words and you can easily believe that it was Wilde himself being interviewed in the text.

This was an insightful work, full of detail about Wilde's personal life, and an interesting perspective on his outlook on the events that marked his life. My one criticism of Conversations with Oscar Wilde was that is was not longer and was far too quick a read.

Thank you to Netgalley for this book.

This was an extremely quick and easy read, but I feel like it missed the mark. At no point did I "hear" Oscar Wilde while I was reading, and I'm a huge fan of his. It didn't feel intimate, it didn't feel like I was sitting with Wilde and feeling him come through, it just felt like a pretty dry and dull question and answer series on NBC. It read more like a biography than being engaged in a personal conversation with Wilde. While it was interesting to gain this additional knowledge on the author, I genuinely didn't enjoy the book.

I'm unable to give it a 2.5/5 so I'm rounding up, but it's not something I would recommend to even my Oscar Wilde fanatic friends.