"De Profundis and Other Prison Writings" is a new selection of Oscar Wilde's letters and poetry during his imprisonment, in the Penguin Classics series, edited and introduced by Colm Tóibín. At the beginning of 1895, Oscar Wilde was London's darling, renowned for his recent stage success, "An Ideal Husband." However, by May of that same year, Wilde was in Reading Gaol sentenced to hard labor. "De Profundis" is an epistolary account of Wilde's spiritual journey during his imprisonment and describes his new, shocking belief 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. It also includes "The Ballad of Reading Gaol," the poignant poem about a man sentenced to death for the murder of the woman he loved. This 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.