Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Color Illustrated, Formatted for E-readers Oscar Wilde

Publisher Marketing: Unabridged & Original version with all 388 pages Includes: 15 Illustrations and Biography The Picture of Dorian Gray is an 1891 philosophical novel by writer and playwright Oscar Wilde. First published as a complete story in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, the editors feared the story was indecent, and without Wilde's knowledge, deleted five hundred words before publication. Despite that censorship, The Picture of Dorian Gray offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers, some of whom said that Oscar Wilde merited prosecution for violating the laws guarding the public morality. In response, Wilde aggressively defended his novel and art in correspondence with the British press. Wilde revised and expanded the magazine edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) for publication as a novel; the book edition (1891) featured an aphoristic preface - an apologia about the art of the novel and the reader. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own literary right, as social and cultural criticism. In April 1891, the editorial house Ward, Lock and Company published the revised version of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The only novel written by Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray exists in two versions, the 1890 magazine edition (in 13 Chapters) as submitted to Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, and the 1891 book edition (in 20 Chapters). As literature of the 19th century, The Picture of Dorian Gray is an example of Gothic fiction with strong themes interpreted from the legendary Faust Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty; he believes that Dorian's beauty is responsible for the new mode in his art as a painter. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life. Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. Review Citations: School Library Journal 11/01/2009 pg. 138 (EAN 9781602706804, Library Binding) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2010 pg. 65 (EAN 9781602706804, Library Binding) People Weekly 07/21/2008 pg. 57 (EAN 9780809599943, Paperback) Booklist 05/15/2001 pg. 1746 (EAN 9780670894956, Paperback) School Library Journal 08/01/2001 pg. 190 (EAN 9780670894956, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 327 (EAN 9780670894956, Paperback) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2001 pg. 327 (EAN 9780670894956, Paperback) Booklist 05/15/2001 pg. 1746 (EAN 9780670894949, Hardcover) School Library Journal 08/01/2001 pg. 190 (EAN 9780670894949, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2001 pg. 327 (EAN 9780670894949, Hardcover) Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2001 pg. 327 (EAN 9780670894949, Hardcover) Ingram Paperback Advance 09/01/1999 pg. 17 (EAN 9780812567113, Mass Market Paperbound) Library Journal 10/01/1998 pg. 141 (EAN 9781551111261, Paperback) Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/1995 pg. 701 (EAN 9780394605142, Hardcover) Publishers Weekly 04/04/2011 (EAN 9780674057920, Hardcover) - *Starred Review Library Journal 05/01/2011 pg. 84 (EAN 9780674057920, Hardcover) Books & Culture 07/01/2011 pg. 35 (EAN 9780674057920, Hardcover) Entertainment Weekly 12/11/2009 pg. 119 (EAN 9780141442464, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Wilde, Oscar Oscar Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, to the Irish nationalist and writer "Speranza" Wilde and the doctor William Wilde. After graduating from Oxford in 1878, Wilde moved to London, where he became notorious for his sharp wit and flamboyant style of dress. Though he was publishing plays and poems throughout the 1880s, it wasn't until the late 1880s and early 1890s that his work started to be received positively. In 1895, Oscar Wilde was tried for homosexuality and was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison. Tragically, this downfall came at the height of his career, as his plays, An Ideal Husband "and The Importance of Being Earnest, "were playing to full houses in London. He was greatly weakened by the privations of prison life, and moved to Paris after his sentence. Wilde died in a hotel room, either of syphilis or complications from ear surgery, in Paris, on November 30, 1900. Contributor Bio:  Illustrator, Leonardo Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle KStJ, DL (22 May 1859 - 7 July 1930) was a Scottish writer and physician, most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction. He is also known for writing the fictional adventures of a second character he invented, Professor Challenger, and for popularising the mystery of the Mary Celeste. He was a prolific writer whose other works include fantasy and science fiction stories, plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction and historical novels.