Oscar Wilde was a legendary wit, a poetic provocateur, and one of England’s greatest playwrights who became a martyr for free love, a scapegoat for repressive society, and a myth onto himself. Shimmering beneath the dazzling witticisms and delicious irony is Wilde’s profound, serious, and unshakeable commitment to love. Love is the experience that can unmoor us from the habits, conventions, and expectations of our lives in both thrilling and unsettling ways. It is also the thing that, like no other, inspires undreamed-of acts of courage. This edition combines Wilde’s thoughts on love from his published writings with a selection of Wilde’s letters to Lord Alfred Douglas (“Bosie”) and a little-known letter from Douglas to Wilde.OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900) was an Irish playwright, poet, and novelist, known for his biting wit, defense of aesthetics, and defiance of social conventions. The author of celebrated comedies, including The Importance of Being Earnest, Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, and the iconic novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, at the height of his fame he was sentenced to two years’ hard labor for “gross indecency” with men. He died penniless in Paris three years after his release from prison. He ranks among the most celebrated writers in English literature.ULRICH BAER holds degrees from Harvard and Yale, has been awarded Guggenheim, Getty, and Humboldt fellowships, and is University Professor at New York University. He has published books on poetry, September 11, photography and free speech, a novel and a collection of short stories, and, in the Contemplations series: Dickinson on Love, Nietzsche on Love, Rilke on Love, and Wilde on Love.