Better known in 1882 as a cultural icon than a serious writer, Oscar Wilde was brought to North America for a major lecture tour on Aestheticism and the decorative arts. With characteristic aplomb, he adopted the role as the ambassador of Aestheticism, and he tried out a number of phrases, ideas, and strategies that ultimately made him famous as a novelist and playwright. 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.| Table of Contents Preface Introduction INTERVIEWS 1. "Oscar Wilde's Arrival," New York World 2. "Oscar Wilde," New York Evening Post 3. "Our New York Letter," Philadelphia Inquirer 4. "The Theories of a Poet," New York Tribune 5. "The Science of the Beautiful," New York World 6. "A Talk with Wilde," Philadelphia Press 7. "The Aestethic Bard," Philadelphia Inquirer 8. "What Oscar Has to Say," Baltimore American 9. "Wilde and Forbes," New York Herald 10. "An Interview with the Poet," Albany Argus 11. "Oscar Wilde," Boston Herald 12. "The Aesthetic Apostle," Boston Globe 13. Lilian Whiting, "They Will Show Him," Chicago Inter-Ocean 14. "A Man of Culture Rare," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle 16. "The Apostle of Art," Chicago Inter-Ocean 17. "Truly Aesthetic," Chicago Inter-Ocean 18. "Wilde," Cleveland Leader 19. "With Mr. Oscar Wilde," Cincinnati Gazette 20. "Oscar Wilde," Cincinnati Enquirer 21. "Utterly Utter," St. Louis Post-Dispatch 22. "Speranza's Gifted Son," St. Louis Globe-Democrat 23. "Oscar As He Is," St. Louis Republican 24. "Oscar Wilde," Chicago Tribune 25. "Philosophical Oscar," Chicago Times 26. "David and Oscar," Chicago Tribune 27. "Oscar Wilde in Omaha," Omaha Weekly 28. "Oscar Wilde: An Interview with the Apostle of Aestheticism," San Francisco Examiner 29. "Oscar Wilde's Views," San Francisco Morning Call 30. "Lo! The Aesthete," San Francisco Chronicle 31. "Oscar Arrives," Sacramento Record-Union 32. Mary Watson, "Oscar Wilde at Home," San Francisco Examiner 33. "Oscar Wilde," Salt Lake Herald 34. "Oscar Wilde," Denver Rocky Mountain News 35. "Art and Aesthetics," Denver Tribune 36. "What Mr. Wilde Says About Himself," Manchester Examiner and Times 37. "Aesthetic: An Interseting Interview with Oscar Wilde," Dayton Daily Democrat 38. "Oscar Wilde's Return," New York World 39. "Oscar Wilde in Montreal," Montreal Witness 40. "Oscar Wilde: The Arch-Aesthete on Aestheticism," Montreal Star 41. "Oscar Wilde," Toronto Globe 42. "The Aesthete at the Art Exhibition," Toronto Globe 43. "Oscar Wilde Talks of Texas," New Orleans Picayune 44. "Oscar Wilde: Arrival of the Great Aesthete," Atlanta Constitution 45. "Oscar Dear, Oscar Dear!" Charleston News and Courier 46. "Loveliness and Politeness," New York Sun 47. "The Apostle of Beauty in Nova Scotia," Halifax Morning Herald 48. "Oscar Wilde Thoroughly Exhausted," New York Tribune APPENDIX: WILDE'S LECTURE From Impressions of America Bibliography of All Known Interviews with Oscar Wilde Works Consulted Index | "A generous and welcome sampling."—New York Review of Books

"Highly recommended."—Choice

"[A] rewarding, absorbing, and necessary book."—The Gay and Lesbian Review
|Matthew Hofer is an associate professor of English at the University of New Mexico. Gary Scharnhorst is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of New Mexico and the author of Bret Harte: Opening the American Literary West and other works.