"Do you want to know the great tragedy of my life? I have put all of myenius into my life; all I've put into my work is my talent.";"We live in ange that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.";Oscar Wildes considered to be the greatest wit in the English language; this book markshe centenary of his death in penury and exile in Paris. Barry Day charts -n Wilde's own inimitable style - his progress from the brilliant, youthfulesthete who mesmerized his audiences, to the drunken debaucher, destroyed byis own vanity and arrogance.;The book combines not only Wilde's famouspigrams ("Work is the curse of the drinking classes"), but also the wordsorn from his heart, from his letters and diaries. It is a tribute to a manho is today perhaps even more famous and admired than he was in his ownifetime.