This comprehensive and authoritative collection of Oscar Wilde's American interviews affords readers a fresh look at the making of a literary legend. Better known in 1882 as a cultural icon than a serious writer (at twenty-six years old, he had by then published just one volume of poems), Wilde was brought to North America for a major lecture tour on Aestheticism and the decorative arts that was organized to publicize a touring opera, Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, which lampooned him and satirized the Aesthetic "movement" he had been imported to represent. In this year-long series of broadly distributed and eagerly read newspaper interviews, Wilde excelled as a master of self-promotion. He visited major cities from New York to San Francisco but also small railroad towns along the way, granting interviews to newspapers wherever asked. With characteristic aplomb, he adopted the role as the ambassador of Aestheticism, and reporters noted that he was dressed for the part. He wooed and flattered his hosts everywhere, pronouncing Miss Alsatia Allen of Montgomery, Alabama, the most beautiful young lady he had seen in the United States, adding, "This is a remark, my dear fellow, I supposed I have made of some lady in every city I have visited in this country. It could be appropriately made. American women are very beautiful." Confronted at every turn by an insatiable audience of sometimes hostile interviewers, the young poet tried out a number of phrases, ideas, and strategies that ultimately made him famous as a novelist and playwright. Seeing America and Americans for the first time, Wilde's perception often proved as sharp as his wit; the echoes of both resound in much of his later writings. His interviewers also succeeded in getting him to talk about many other topics, from his opinions of British and American writers (he thought Poe was America's greatest poet) to his views of Mormonism. This exceptional volume cites all ninety-one of Wilde's interviews and contains transcripts of forty-eight of them, and it also includes his lecture on his travels in America.

Matthew Hofer is an assistant professor of English at the University of New Mexico. Gary Scharnhorst is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of New Mexico and the author of Bret Harte: Opening the American Literary West and other works.

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Interviews
"Oscar Wilde's Arrival," New York World	p. 13
"Oscar Wilde," New York Evening Post	p. 15
"Our New York Letter," Philadelphia Inquirer	p. 17
"The Theories of a Poet," New York Tribune	p. 19
"The Science of the Beautiful," New York World	p. 22
"A Talk with Wilde," Philadelphia Press	p. 25
"The Aesthetic Bard," Philadelphia Inquirer	p. 31
"What Oscar Has to Say," Baltimore American	p. 34
"Wilde and Forbes," New York Herald	p. 35
"An Interview with the Poet," Albany Argus	p. 38
"Oscar Wilde," Boston Herald	p. 39
"The Aesthetic Apostle," Boston Globe	p. 47
Lilian Whiting, "They Will Show Him," Chicago Inter-Ocean	p. 51
"A Man of Culture Rare," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle	p. 53
"Wilde Sees the Falls," Buffalo Express	p. 57
"The Apostle of Art," Chicago Inter-Ocean	p. 57
"Truly Aesthetic," Chicago Inter-Ocean	p. 61
"Wilde," Cleveland Leader	p. 64
"With Mr. Oscar Wilde," Cincinnati Gazette	p. 67
"Oscar Wilde," Cincinnati Enquirer	p. 72
"Utterly Utter," St. Louis Post-Dispatch	p. 75
"Speranza's Gifted Son," St. Louis Globe-Democrat	p. 78
"Oscar as He Is," Sr. Louis Republican	p. 83
"Oscar Wilde," Chicago Tribune	p. 88
"Philosophical Oscar," Chicago Times	p. 93
"David and Oscar," Chicago Tribune	p. 95
"Oscar Wilde in Omaha," Omaha Weekly Herald	p. 98
"Oscar Wilde: An Interview with the Apostle of Aestheticism," San Francisco Examiner	p. 100
"Oscar Wilde's Views," San Francisco Morning Call	p. 105
"Lo! The Aesthete," San Francisco Chronicle	p. 109
"Oscar Arrives,"Sacramento Record-Union	p. 115
Mary Watson, "Oscar Wilde at Home," San Francisco Examiner	p. 123
"Oscar Wilde," Salt Lake Herald	p. 128
"Oscar Wilde," Denver Rocky Mountain News	p. 130
"Art and Aesthetics," Denver Tribune	p. 134
"What Mr. Wilde Says about Himself," Manchester Examiner and Times	p. 139
"Aesthetic: An Interesting Interview with Oscar Wilde" Dayton Daily Democrat	p. 141
"Oscar Wilde's Return," New York World	p. 146
"Oscar Wilde in Montreal," Montreal Witness	p. 147
"Oscar Wilde: The Arch-Aesthete on Aestheticism," Montreal Star	p. 151
"Oscar Wilde," Toronto Globe	p. 154
"The Aesthete at the Art Exhibition" Toronto Globe	p. 155
"Oscar Wilde Talks of Texas," New Orleans Picayune	p. 156
"Oscar Wilde: Arrival of the Great Aesthete," Atlanta Constitution	p. 158
"Oscar Dear, Oscar Dear!" Charleston News and Courier	p. 162
"Loveliness and Politeness," New York Sun	p. 165
"The Apostle of Beauty in Nova Scotia," Halifax Morning Herald	p. 166
"Oscar Wilde Thoroughly Exhausted," New York Tribune	p. 172
Appendix
Wilde's Lecture "Impressions of America"	p. 177
Bibliography of All Known Interviews with Oscar Wilde	p. 183
Works Consulted	p. 187
Index	p. 189
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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