Oscar: A Life

(Paperback, Reissue)

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The first major biography of Oscar Wilde in thirty years is the most complete telling of his life and times to date.

'The Book of the Year, perhaps of the decade, has to be Matthew Sturgis's Oscar' TLS, Books of the Year.

NOMINATED FOR THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2019.

A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR.

'Simply the best modern biography of Wilde ... A terrific achievement'Evening Standard.

'Page-turning ... Vivid and desperately moving. However much you think you know Wilde, this book will absorb and entertain you'Sunday Times.

'Wonderfully exciting ... Sturgis's great achievement is to take on board his great flurry of contradictions' Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday.

'[Sturgis] is a tremendous orchestrator of material, fastidious, unhurried, indefatigable'Observer.

'Oscar Wilde is more fashionable than ever ... Sturgis's account of the hearing at the Old Bailey is as gripping as it is grim'Guardian.

'The Book of the Year, perhaps of the decade, has to be Matthew Sturgis's Oscar which captures the wit, the love-ability, the dramatic genius, the insane self-destructiveness, the originality of Wilde ... [Sturgis] is the greatest chronicler of the 1890s we have ever had'TLS, Books of the Year.

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. He was an unabashed snob who nevertheless delighted in exposing the faults of society. He affected a dandified disdain but was prone to great acts of kindness. Although happily married, he became a passionate lover of men and at the very peak of his success brought disaster upon himself. He disparaged authority, yet went to the law to defend his love for Lord Alfred Douglas. Having delighted in fashionable throngs, Wilde died almost alone: barely a dozen people were at his graveside.

Yet despite this ruinous end, Wilde's star continues to shine brightly. His was a life of quite extraordinary drama. Above all, his flamboyant refusal to conform to the social and sexual orthodoxies of his day make him a hero and an inspiration to all who seek to challenge convention.

In the first major biography of Oscar Wilde in thirty years, Matthew Sturgis draws on a wealth of new material and fresh research to place the man firmly in the context of his times. He brings alive the distinctive mood and characters of the fin de siecle in the richest and most compelling portrait of Wilde to date.

Reviews

'However much you think you know about Wilde, this book will absorb and entertain you. It thickens the texture of every aspect of his unique life dazzling, decadent and doomed' Sunday Times.
'A perfectly diligent book, and tells new readers all they possibly need to know about Wilde and his world' The Times.
'Authoritative, magnificently researched' Spectator.
'Matthew Sturgis uses new letters and a libel trial transcript to give a fuller picture of Oscar Wilde's dazzling rise and tragic fall ... He is a tremendous orchestrator of material, fastidious, unhurried, indefatigable' Observer.
'Oscar Wilde is more fashionable than ever, and his demise still makes for a gripping read ... Sturgis's account is fuller and in some ways more reliable [than Richard Ellmann's biography] ... Sturgis's account of the hearing at the Old Bailey is as gripping as it is grim' Guardian.
'[Sturgis's biography] is the first major attempt since that of Richard Ellman some 30 years ago, and it's much better ... This is simply the best modern biography of Wilde ... A terrific achievement' Evening Standard.
'The Book of the Year, perhaps of the decade ... Captures the wit, the love-ability, the dramatic genius, the insane self-destructiveness, the originality of Wilde ... [Sturgis] is the greatest chronicler of the 1890s we have ever had' TLS Book of the Year.
'Astute in its judgements and offers a sharp and detailed grasp of the period and an appreciation of Wilde's ambiguities' Irish Times, Books of the Year, Colm Tibn.
'The first major biography of the great Oscar Wilde in 30 years offers a sumptuous insight into the life of the famous and infamous fin de sicle playwright, author and poet' Mail on Sunday, Books of the Year, Craig Brown.
'Like Churchill, Oscar Wilde [...] is one of those people who never seem to stop inspiring outstanding biographies, and Oscar: A Life by Matthew Sturgis is one of the best, as well as the latest, of a long line' Sunday Telegraph.
'A first rate biography' Sunday Express, Books of the Year.
'This book provides not only a comprehensive record of [Wilde's] activities, friendships and financial affairs, but also a powerful sense of what it was actually like to know him ... This is undoubtedly the most comprehensive, reliable and clear-sighted study of Wilde ever likely to be written' Dublin Sunday Business Post.
'This excellent biography offers a deeper, more rounded picture of the writer's life, his rise to stardom, his fall and tragic final days ... At once entertaining and scholarly. The man himself would be proud' The Lady.

Author Bio

Matthew Sturgis is a writer with a particular enthusiasm for the cultural world of the late-nineteenth century and is the author of acclaimed biographies of Aubrey Beardsley and Walter Sickert. He has also contributed to the TLS, Daily Telegraph and Independent on Sunday. He is a member of the Oscar Wilde Society and contributes reviews to their journal The Wildean.