October Book Club: The Picture of Dorian Gray

For October our book club book will be The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is an 1891 gothic novel by Oscar Wilde. This is Wilde’s only novel—he spent more of his career writing plays—and it was very controversial on its publication. The controversy was, doubtless, partly fuelled by its author’s image; Wilde had an—unjust—reputation for being immoral.

The premise of The Picture of Dorian Gray is so well known now that I’m not going to summarize the plot at all here. If you don’t know the central idea of the book then you’ll find out soon after you start reading, and if you do know it then you don’t need me to tell it to you. I will say here that unlike is reputation for immorality, Wilde’s reputation for wit and his skill with wordplay is very just and well deserved.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is in the public domain, and you can find a free e-book copy here, and probably a cheap paper copy at most bookstores. Audible has an audiobook copy, and so does LibraVox, which is a non-profit organization where public domain books are read aloud by volunteers.

I think you’ll enjoy this book. Happy reading!