Author:Oscar Wilde,Max Bennett,Joseph Fiennes,John Moffatt,Alistair McGowan,Full Cast,Dervla Kirwan,John Heffernan,Mathew Baynton,Rupert Penry-Jones,Miranda Raison,Paul McGann,Joseph Ayre
A BBC radio celebration of the works of Oscar Wilde, including energetic adaptations of his best-known plays, short stories, and original dramas about the man himself
Long before he'd produced any of his great works, Oscar Wilde was already famous for being famous. Armed only with some witty epigrams, a carefully crafted persona and his genius for self-promotion, he had conquered America and transformed himself from nobody to star.
This radio collection opens with four plays from Radio 4's Born to be Wilde season, offering a 21st Century perspective on the making of one of the first true celebrities. First up are two sparkling and surprising productions of his two most popular comedies, marking the peak of his theatrical career. The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband feature stellar casts including Mathew Baynton, Jeany Spark, John Heffernan and Miranda Raison, with the latter also featuring music by Steppenwolf, Taylor Swift and Amy Winehouse.
Next, two plays by Marcy Kahan and Lavinia Murray explore aspects of Wilde's life. The Warhol Years charts his astonishing rise, as he embarks on his US tour determined to be famous for 15 minutes - and then some. Oscar and Constancy portrays a celebrity marriage in crisis, as Wilde's domestic and creative lives vie for supremacy. Both dramas star Max Bennett as the young Wilde, with Dervla Kirwan as his mother, Speranza.
Also included in this collection are nine of Wilde's classic short stories. The deliciously satirical 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime' is dramatised with a full cast including Rupert Penry-Jones and Gillian Kearney. His humorous supernatural story 'The Canterville Ghost' is read by Alistair McGowan, and Joseph Ayre narrates two delightful stories with a twist: 'The Sphinx Without a Secret' and 'The Model Millionaire'. Wilde's dazzling fairytales - 'The Happy Prince', 'The Nightingale and the Rose', 'The Selfish Giant', 'The Remarkable Rocket' and 'The Birthday of the Infanta' - are read by Joseph Fiennes, Joseph Ayre, Sam Dale, John Moffatt and Paul McGann.
Track listing:
An Ideal Husband
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Warhol Years
Oscar and Constancy
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
'The Canterville Ghost'
'The Sphinx Without a Secret'
'The Model Millionaire'
'The Happy Prince'
'The Nightingale and the Rose'
'The Selfish Giant'
'The Remarkable Rocket'
'The Birthday of the Infanta'
A riotous, propulsive adventure story, packed with captivating characters
—— Daily MailA brilliantly multifaceted panorama of early 20th-century America . . . Walter is a writer whose work deserves a wide readership
—— Sunday TimesA beautiful, lyric hymn to the power of social unrest in American history. It's funny and harrowing, sweet and violent, innocent and experienced
—— Anthony Doerr, author of All the Light We Cannot SeeA work of irresistible characters, harrowing adventures and rip-roaring fun ... bursting with a dazzling range of outrageous characters. One of the most captivating novels of the year
—— Washington PostReminiscent of the stylistic tricks of F Scott Fitzgerald...With its rebellion against inequality and debates about capitalism, there are clear echoes from 1909 to the US today. Incitement to riot, dreadfully topical since the assault on the Capitol last month, also gets a look in. But The Cold Millions offers more: a study of individuals living, willingly or unwillingly, through tumult.
—— FTColourful and punchy
—— The TimesWalter is a class act...the fierce struggle for free speech and workers' rights is genuinely stirring.
—— Max Davidson , Mail on SundayA timely and poetic read that vividly depicts the American melting pot at its most unequal and volatile . . . a compelling portrait of America at the dawn of the 20th Century
—— Sunday ExpressExpansive, beguiling . . . A thrilling yarn that simultaneously underscores the cost of progress and celebrates the American spirit
—— O MagazineIt's a tremendous work, a vivid, propulsive, historical novel with a politically explosive backdrop that reverberates through our own
—— USA TodayJess Walter is a superb storyteller. As polished and hard as a diamond, The Cold Millions reminds us of America's tempestuous past and suggests that all this is anything but past
—— Boston GlobeWalter marshals a motley, fascinating cast of characters so finely drawn that they lift from the page. I haven't encountered a more satisfying and moving novel about the struggle for workers' rights in America
—— San Francisco ChronicleA layered, multi-character panorama
—— VogueIt's often said that a novel contains the world; Walter brings new meaning to this phrase, peopling The Cold Millions with vaudeville stars, hobos, suffragists, tycoons, union agitators, policemen, and dozens of other vibrant characters. Warm and deeply humane, this transporting novel is a staggering achievement from a landmark writer
—— EsquireThe fact that the same author has written books as wildly different and all as transporting as The Zero, The Financial Lives of the Poets, Beautiful Ruins, and now this latest tour de force is testimony to Walter's protean storytelling power and astounding ability to set a scene, any scene . . . We have heard that Jess Walter writes nonstop: Seven days a week, 365 days a year. Please, never stop.
—— Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewSuperb.... a splendid postmodern rendition of the social realist novels of the 1930s by Henry Roth, John Steinbeck, and John Dos Passos, updated with strong female characters and executed with pristine prose. This could well be Walter's best work yet.
—— Publishers Weekly, starred reviewA great tapestry of busy-ness . . . Walter's descriptive passage are marvellous
—— Francesca Carington , Sunday Telegraph
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