[.ca] The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde (ISBN 0099415453)

The rebellion of Oscar Wilde:
Author Neil Mckenna spins at least three themes together in this fascinating biography of Oscar Wilde. One is a narrative of how Oscar found, came to understand and eventually accepted himself - the slow development of his feelings and attitudes about himself and the rest of the world. Second is the long series of events leading to Oscar's 1895 criminal trials - Oscar's slow but irrevocable "coming out", both internal and external, when such a thing was inconceivable and had criminal consequences. Third, in the form of a wrapping around the package, is the ongoing description of Oscars achievements as artist, brilliant conversationalist, and leader. Mr. Mckenna has a great deal of documentary evidence to support his thesis, knows how to analyze his source material and draw reasonable conclusions from it. The book contains plenty of sexual detail and imagery partly to describe the secret life, but also as the factual basis for the criminal case. The latter was a kind of turning point: a historical starting point in the terribly slow easing of legal and social sanctions and discrimination against homosexuals.