4.5 stars. Incredibly detailed and a beautiful tribute to an incredible and complex man, both sympathetic and objective. I respect and admire Ellmann as a biographer, writer, and literary critic, and his decades of research and studies on Wilde are so evident in this biography. My only complaints are that sometimes I felt Ellmann cast a little too much of his own opinion in commenting on certain events in Wilde's life and it could sometimes stand in the way of trying to understand the event for myself (and, like many others, I disagree with Ellmann's hypothesis that Wilde had developed syphilis). But if you have any interest in Wilde whatsoever, please read this book.

Lady Wilde almost runs away with the first half of this dense, beautifully written biography that won Ellmann a Pulitzer prize.

I agree with reviewers who commented that perhaps there was a bit too much detail for entry-level readers. The sheer competency of this treatment of Oscar Wilde's brilliant, sad and troubled life means that we may never get the kind of definitive work I'd like.

Ellmann, writing to midcentury literary tastes, treats Wilde's sexuality too obliquely for young audiences today, and readers will be left confused about this central aspect of Wilde's life--central, I mean, because it was the aspect solely responsible for his downfall. In my ideal biography of Wilde, readers would clearly understand the coded boundaries and behaviors that closeted gays and lesbians of the era also clearly understood. In order to effect that, the biographer needs to write plainly and clearly about sex, erotic love and sexual practices. But who would ever revise a work so beloved, so thorough and well-researched, unless critical new source material came to light?

As I work on the translation of Élisabeth de Gramont, the "eternal mate" of Natalie Barney, I am struck by Wildeana that Ellmann doesn't even cover in a footnote. He should have done. It's a true story that strains credulity in fiction, and Oscar would have been pleased to have it included.

While on his American tour, Oscar Wilde rescued a pretty, blonde, six-year-old girl along a stretch of heavily leisured mid-Atlantic coastline. She was being taunted by her playmates. Oscar, full of the tenderness that was a lesser-known hallmark of his life on earth (beautifully treated by Richard Ellmann), decided to intervene. He took the little girl in his arms, sat her on his lap and told her a fairy tale. It was one of his own. Imagine that experience!

That girl was Natalie Barney, the great 20th century lesbian seducer, who was to make her life in Paris and write volumes of epigrams that stand up to many of Wilde's wittiest and most biting. Wilde's actions on the beach that day made a lifelong impression on Natalie Barney; so much so that she developed a magnetic attraction for Wilde's family. Around 1910 she became the lover of Bosie's wife, Olive Custance, and was the godmother of their child. And then, in the 1920s, she formed an even deeper, lengthier liaison with Oscar's lookalike niece, Dolly.

Oscar, Bosie, Dolly: Natalie Barney held them all in the palm of her hand. All because of a small kindness. One of so many Oscar is never remembered for.

If you want to know every detail of Wilde's life, Ellmann is the place to go. This was not read for fun, this was read for a class all about Oscar Wilde, so this book was perfect. Did I read every word? No. Did I read half the words? Probably... But I had to lug this colossus of a book around with me everywhere as I hopelessly attempted to make a dent in it. The insight is amazing; the detail is too much, which is a good thing if that is what you're looking for. You may say that I have no right to mark down that I read this book... Maybe you're right... But, again, I had to lug it around for a semester, so at this point, I probably know everything about Wilde just through osmosis. And that merits a place on my shelf!!

I am writing a review of the biography of Oscar Wilde, not of Oscar Wilde, so I begin by saying that despite its extensive research the book was, even in 1987, less than great. Richard Ellmann was dying when he wrote the book and that he finished it was an accomplishment in itself. While it is excellent on Wilde the writer it is not very good on Wilde the man. Not if you are searching for an honest examination of Wilde's sexual nature and its role in his art. It is hard for younger readers to grasp just how suffocating the homophobia regarding the presentation of queer men like Wilde was. It was impossible to pretend, like was done with da Vinci, Michelangelo or Caravaggio, that he wasn't, but they could negate it, ignore it, or pretend it was an aberration based on...I can't even be bothered to recount the idiocies...seriously!

Ellmann is too great a scholar to say his book is not worth reading, but I am not going to spout automatic praise because of his previous 'great' Joyce biographies, etc. I was disappointed in 1987 and have not reread it since, and I won't. There are more recent and better books, by Neil McKenna and Matthew Sturgis amongst others, and I would read them.

Giving a rating was difficult - it is a very intelligent biography of Wilde the writer but not Wilde the man - so I am giving it three stars, my cop out rating. It reflects the books failures rather then its strengths.

Quite an academic biography. Several lengthy excursions into literary criticism. I think I would have preferred the recent biography by Matthew Sturgis.

Much of my moral obliquity is due to the fact that my father would not allow me to become a Catholic. The artistic side of the Church and the fragrance of its teaching would have cured my degeneracies.

Tell me dear reader, is there any boat you wish you'd gotten on that would've taken you far away from the shores of sin you presently lay upon?

English law had misdone him by punishment, and English society finished him off by ostracism.

Two writers whose graves I wish to visit- Oscar Wilde and Marcel Proust.

“The men who have realised themselves, and in whom all Humanity gains a partial realisation.”

Oscar Wilde (geboren 16. Oktober 1854 in Dublin; gestorben 30. November 1900 in Paris) war einer der bekanntesten, aber auch einer der umstrittensten Schriftsteller seiner Zeit.

Nach dem Besuch des Trinity College in Dublin und dem Abschluss in klassischer Literatur in Oxford zog Wilde nach London, wo er bald als ein Dandy mit exzellenten Manieren bekannt war. 1881 brach er zu einer Vortragsreise durch die USA und Kanada auf. Die erste Reise war nach anfänglichen Schwierigkeiten ein großer Erfolg. Nach seiner zweiten USA-Reise heiratete er Constance Llyoyd, mit der er zwei Söhne hatte.

Die Veröffentlichung von Das Bildnis des Dorian Gray löste einen Skandal aus, sein Bühnenstück Salomé wurde 1892 sogar verboten. "The importance of being earnest" war 1895 ein großer Erfolg. Im selben Jahr wurde er wegen Unzucht vor Gericht gestellt und zu zwei Jahren Zwangsarbeit verurteilt. Nach seiner Entlassung floh er nach Paris, wo er 1900 verarmt starb.

Auch wenn Richard Ellmanns Biografie mehr als 800 Seiten hat, reichen die nicht aus um das Leben Wildes wirklich zu beschreiben. Ellmann hat unglaublich viele Fakten zusammen getragen, aber für mich haben sie nur ein unzureichendes Bild von Oscar Wilde gezeichnet. Das meiste wird aus zweiter Hand erzählt, Oscar Wilde selbst kommt nur in wenigen Zitaten zu Wort. So wirkte die Biografie auf mich wie ein nüchterner Bericht.

Dicen los que saben que esta es la biografía más completa de Wilde. Me inclino a pensar que es muy probable, porque la cantidad de datos que tiene es monstruosa (incluso info del tipo, "en tal y tal fecha Wilde se sentó a tomar tal bebida en tal bar y se encontró con fulano y mengano", "el día tal se compró una camisa y la pagó tanto y tanto". Suena increíble que haya sobrevivido tanta correspondencia y diarios como para saberlo).
Algunas partes, justamente, se hacen cuesta arriba por esta cantidad de trivia, pero en líneas generales, me gustó mucho la biografía. Sé que algunos datos fueron cuestionados por Merlin Holland, nieto y biógrafo de Wilde, pero la verdad es que Ellman hizo un trabajo de investigación monumental.
La recomiendo no sólo a los interesados en la vida y obra de Wilde sino a cualquiera que le interese el período victoriano, porque el elenco que entra y sale de la vida del escritor es interesantísimo y variado.
Por la magnitud de la investigación realizada, la pongo en el mismo estante que Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton.

Extremely detailed and well-rounded biography by the master biographer.

Beautiful and devastating. Has given me such a deeper and fiercer appreciation of Oscar, his work, his philosophy, his relationships, and all the infuriating injustices he endured. AVENGE OSCAR WILDE.

This book collects lots of details from Wilde´s life, without making any point of who he really was. Read it if you are dying to know what was Mrs. Wilde serving for dinner the 13th October 1891.
In addition, this book includes few very serious mistakes (syphilis?? REALLY??), not to mention author´s obvious prejudice.

I read it and I thought it was the best biography of all time. It helps that I love Wilde I guess.