A review by ind24
Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde by Moisés Kaufman

emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An astoundingly brilliant piece of writing. The way each scene plays out on the page, you cannot help but visualize the whole thing. What was most intriguing to me is the fact that the Oscar Wilde I knew until I read this book was Oscar Wilde: the court jester, the wordsmith, the magician, but the Oscar Wilde on these pages is a very serious, almost broken artist, practically a worshipper of aesthetics and beauty. The Oscar Wilde in the courtroom, it seems to me, was definitely not lacking hubris but was also imbued with an idea to have the souls of all of the humankind sing with stunning beauty of art. He seems to be pushing this idea that people need to question the purpose of art and artists, in general, and that was truly fascinating to me! Can you separate the art from the artist? And how far are you willing to go to define this separation? What is “morality” in the space of art? Those are the questions.