"The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde" is a celebration of the author's finest witticisms, aphorisms, paradoxes and ironical remarks. It features hundreds of acerbic and razor-sharp quotations from the iconic Victorian Aesthete and rebel and is beautifully decorated with black-and-white illustrations including those by Wilde's contemporary and friend, Aubrey Beardsley - the most controversial artist of the Art Nouveau era. It is an accessible and elegantly organized collection, with quotes gathered according to themes, perfect to dip into on the reader's whim. "The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde" brings before the reader the virtuoso of a well-turned phrase and the master of the studied insult; indeed, so perfect were Wilde's verbal thrusts that his victims were often flattered to have been the cause of them. His aphorisms and paradoxes, ironical remarks and needle-sharp rejoinders were repeated with delight - not least by Wilde himself, who took an artist's pride in his work. Yet for all that, his shafts were rarely cruel, for behind them lay great warmth of character, generosity of spirit, and a profound understanding of human life and human vanities. "The Wicked Wit of Oscar Wilde" shows us why, more than a hundred years after his death, people of every age and from all walks of life are still drawn to Wilde's dazzling repartee and the wicked brilliance of his social observations, while his plays and stories continue to entertain and enthral succeeding generations.

Maria Leach is the author of The Ultimate Insult, also published by Michael O'Mara Books.