Ann Donald examines the influence of reading on lifestyle and personality with a set of unusual, and rather intriguing, biographical works.
Safe to say that Wilde had read more than his fair share of books in the 46 years he lived. The details of what and how he read, as well as how his life was influenced by his reading, is presented in an unusual biography, Oscar’s Books, by Thomas Wright, first published in 2008 and now available in paperback.The book opens with a description of the sale of Wilde’s “library of valuable books”, auctioned in 1895 to pay his legal costs after unsuccessfully suing the Marquess of Queensberry for libel. The books were sold outside his house to the distress of their owner and the horror of his friends. Most of the almost 2000 books were bought for a song by book dealers and when displayed in their shop windows, Wilde’s friends managed to buy some of them and return them to him.
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December 4th, 2009 @23:04 #
Intriguing indeed. Like what Ann says at the end, where she wonders what influential South Africans read.