{"product_id":"de-profundis-other-writings","title":"De Profundis \u0026 Other Writings","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eDe Profundis and Other Prison Writings\u003c\/i\u003e is a new selection of Oscar Wilde''s prison letters and poetry in Penguin Classics, edited and introduced by Colm Tóibín.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the start of 1895, Oscar Wilde was the toast of London, widely feted for his most recent stage success, \u003ci\u003eAn Ideal Husband\u003c\/i\u003e. But by May of the same year, Wilde was in Reading prison sentenced to hard labour. ''De Profundis'' is an epistolic account of Oscar Wilde''s spiritual journey while in prison, and describes his new, shocking conviction that ''the supreme vice is shallowness''. This edition also includes further letters to his wife, his friends, the Home Secretary, newspaper editors and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas - Bosie - himself, as well as ''The Ballad of Reading Gaol'', the heart-rending poem about a man sentenced to hang for the murder of the woman he loved. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Penguin edition is based on the definitive Complete Letters, edited by Wilde''s grandson Merlin Holland. Colm Tóibín''s introduction explores Wilde''s duality in love, politics and literature. This edition also includes notes on the text and suggested further reading. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOscar Wilde was born in Dublin. His three volumes of short fiction, \u003ci\u003eThe Happy Prince\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLord Arthur Savile''s Crime\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eA House of Pomegranates, \u003c\/i\u003etogether with his only novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Picture of Dorian Gray\u003c\/i\u003e, won him a reputation as a writer with an original talent, a reputation enhanced by the phenomenal success of his society comedies - \u003ci\u003eLady Windermere''s Fan\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Woman of No Importance\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAn Ideal Husband\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Importance of Being Earnest\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eColm Tóibín is the author of five novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Blackwater Lightship\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Master\u003c\/i\u003e, and a collection of stories, \u003ci\u003eMothers and Sons\u003c\/i\u003e. His essay collection \u003ci\u003eLove in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar\u003c\/i\u003e appeared in 2002. He is the editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Penguin Book of Irish Fiction\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57305325273470,"sku":"NW9780140439908","price":9.65,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9780140439908.jpg?v=1778236567","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/de-profundis-other-writings","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}