Showing results for "wild" in Biographies & Memoirs

Oscar Wilde's life – like his wit – was alive with paradox. He was both an early exponent and a victim of 'celebrity culture': famous for being famous, he was lauded and ridiculed in equal measure. His achievements were frequently downplayed, his successes resented. He had a genius for comedy but strove to write tragedies. Matthew Sturgis draws on a wealth of new material and fresh research, bringing alive the distinctive mood and characters of the fin de siècle in the richest and most compelling portrait of Oscar Wilde to date.

As a journalist in London, William discovered the Eurovision Song Contest—an annual competition known for its extravagant performers and cutthroat politics. Initially just a fan, he started blogging about the contest, ultimately becoming the most sought-after expert on the subject. William was soon jetting across the continent to meet divas, drag queens, and aspiring singers, who welcomed him to their beautiful, if dysfunctional, family of choice.

Andrew Sean Greer can’t wait to get home to San Francisco after a writer’s residency in Kansas. But when his mother, Sandra, decides to come along for the ride, he has a new goal: get her to crack a smile at every stop, whether breathtaking or breathtakingly kitschy. He’s always known his mother to be as efficient and serious as a chemist (which she happens to be), always in gray, eyebrow cocked, and handling challenges with grace. To mix things up, Andrew develops an elaborate itinerary of planned chaos.

Martin Milnes was born in the wrong era or at least that's how it seemed. As a child, he wore jazz-shoes to his junior school disco, expecting eight-year-olds to Mambo like the dancers in West Side Story.... But his childhood and school days were no Broadway musical. Martin was different: the cat who walked alone. Birthdays, stingingly empty, held a horrific reminder that he possessed no talent for friendship. Yet once Martin emerged on stage, the jeering turned to cheering; the lonely void was filled by Hollywood stars of yesteryear, worshiped from afar.

Oscar Wilde is remembered as one of the wittiest minds ever, thanks to his provocative style and humor. In the 1890s, he was one of London's most popular playwrights; his masterpieces are The Importance of Being Earnest and the dark and fantastical Picture of Dorian Gray. His writings entwine themes of beauty, decadence and duplicity, which made him a more than colorful agent provocateur in the Victorian society. This would eventually lead to a very public trial after he was accused of sodomy. His defense, punctuated with witticism, often left the court roaring with laughter, but the evidence was against him, and he was eventually sent to prison.

André Gide, a towering figure in French letters, draws upon his friendship with Oscar Wilde to sketch a compelling portrait of the tragic, doomed author, both celebrated and shunned in his time. Rather than compile a complete biography, Gide invites us to discover Wilde as he did - from their first meeting in 1891 to their final parting just two years before Wilde’s death - all told through Gide’s sensitive, incomparable prose. Using his notes, recollections, and conversations, Gide illuminates Wilde as a man whose true art was not writing, but living.

Charles Finger’s book efficiently covers Oscar Wilde’s background, his early years and education, and his beginnings as an author, poet, and critic for several magazines. The author then turns to the activities of Wilde that drew the attention of others, culminating in the Marquess of Queensbury calling Wilde out as a homosexual. Wilde sued for slander, but the Marquess was acquitted and materials brought forth during the trial resulted in Wilde being arrested and tried for homosexuality. He was convicted and sentenced to two years of hard labor, from which he never really recovered.

Oscar Wilde was a wild one. His statements were bold, his career was successful, and his tongue was sharp. Not only did he disturb the common narrative of the nuclear family, the Catholic church, and the idea of patriotism, but he also blew many people away with his defense of his principles, his criticism of the state, philosophies on life itself, and more. Being open about being a homosexual in a time when it was unaccepted and even illegal, his life ended in imprisonment and exile. Yet, despite his orientation and his controversial preferences, his prose and poetry did not suffer.