Wilde in America: Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity

by David M. Friedman

On January 3, 1882, Oscar Wilde, a twenty-seven-year-old "genius"--at least by his own reckoning--arrived in New York. The Dublin-born Oxford man had made such a spectacle of himself in London with his eccentric fashion sense, acerbic wit, and extravagant passion for art and home design that Gilbert & Sullivan wrote an operetta lampooning him. He was hired to go to America to promote that work by presenting lectures on interior decorating. But...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393063178
• ISBN13: 9780393063172
• Release Date: October 2014
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A precursor to modern celebrity

Wilde in America is fascinating in its portrayal of Oscar Wilde as one of the first people to understand the advantage in being famous before actually accomplishing much of anything. Very well written and interesting.