Oscar Wilde was perhaps the brightest mind of Victorian England and certainly the most famous Irishman of his time, sought after for his ability to comment, with witty humor and legendary poignancy, on human existence and social conventions.

At the same time, the darker side of him led to an end so tragic that even today his life seems like a novel as captivating as his works.

In Discussing with Oscar Wilde, Merlin Holland, the only grandson of the author, meets his famous grandfather one afternoon and poses to him, among other things, a question we all would like to ask about his life and work: How did he, like a magnificent firework, go from the zenith of glory to the absolute nadir of disgrace?

For he may have died in darkness in 1900, but his fame today is greater than ever.

The books in the series: Discussing with Freud, Discussing with Einstein, Discussing with Oscar Wilde.