COLLINS COMPLETE WORKS OF OSCAR WILDE

paper 0-00-472383-X Almost from the moment of his death in1900, Oscar Wilde’s astonishingly large and diverse body of work has been dismissed by a succession of critics as mediocre, distinguished only by—in the words of the Times Literary Supplement——one perfect play, one memorable poem, and —De Profundis.—— This hefty gathering of his plays, stories, poems, essays, and criticism has been continuously in print in England since 1948, suggesting that a persistent body of readers feels otherwise. This new edition, edited by Holland (The Wilde Album, 1998) and published on the centennial of Wilde’s death, incorporates both revisions and lucid, if generally dry, introductions to each of his genres, offering an opportunity, for those who fondly remember The Importance of Being Ernest or The Ballad of Reading Gaol, to sample more of this writer’s prodigious output. Part of the problem may always have been Wilde’s efforts, over the course of his short, controversial career, to play down his industriousness. In fact, he poured out a torrent of words, writing in more forms than most of his contemporaries. Inevitably, some of the work, including most noticeably certain poems and short stories, shows its age. But the fairy tales, many of the plays, and the criticism retain, undiminished, the ability to surprise, provoke, and delight. And Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, seems—in an age devoted to youth—unsettlingly modern. A necessary volume for libraries and a very welcome one for those wishing to explore more of the facets of one of the most original minds of late—Victorian England.