Conversations with Wilde. A Fictional Dialogue Based on Biographical Facts

Talantlivyj dramaturg, romanist, esseist i poet Oskar Uajl'd byl blestyashchim sobesednikom, o chem svidetel'stvovali mnogie ego sovremenniki, i obladal nepodrazhaemym chuvstvom yumora, kotoroe ne izmenilo emu dazhe v samyj tyazhelyj period zhizni, kogda on okazalsya v tyur'me. Merlin Holland, vnuk i biograf Uajl'da, vossozdaet stil' obshcheniya svoego genial'nogo deda tak ubeditel'no, kak esli by pobesedoval s nim na samom dele. S predisloviem aktera, rezhissera i pisatelya Sajmona Kellou, komandora ordena Britanskoj imperii. «ZHizn' Oskara Uajl'da imeet vse priznaki fejerverka: snachala vozbuzhdennoe ozhidanie, zatem effektnoe shou, potom oglushitel'nyj vzryv, padenie – i tishina. Kakim-to neob"yasnimym obrazom on predvidel eto v svoej skazke o zamechatel'noj rakete, kotoraya podnyalas' kak by niotkuda v snope iskr, vzorvalas', upala na zemlyu i potuhla, voskliknuv: "YA znala, chto proizvedu sensaciyu"». (Merlin Holland)