"Mr. O'Sullivan, an authentic personal acquaintance of Wilde in those days, with no special affection for him nor any reason for whitewashing him, gives the first sane and credible description of him."
-George Bernard Shaw
This book offers a series of intimate portraits of Oscar Wilde's later life as witnessed by the Irish-American writer Vincent O'Sullivan. O'Sullivan had known Wilde as a celebrated member of the late nineteenth-century London literary circles. However, it was after Wilde fled to Europe following his release from Reading Gaol that O'Sullivan came to know him well.
Although written over 30 years after Wilde's death, the insights into his life, personality, and place among other literary and artistic figures are rich. Blending recollection and literary commentary, O'Sullivan offers an unusual and intelligent perspective on this great literary figure that is both poignant and honest.
This new edition includes a critical introduction by Lesley Gray (PhD in Comparative Literature) along with brief biographies of the many people O'Sullivan mentions in the text.