Wilde in America: Oscar Wilde and the Invention of Modern Celebrity

In 1882, Oscar Wilde’s American tour made him the second-most famous Briton in the States after Queen Victoria; in this biography, Friedman (The Immortalists) uses the occasion to make argument that “Wilde invented modern celebrity.” Before writing his widely acclaimed plays, Wilde first became “famous for being famous” by lecturing on Aestheticism to provincial audiences and being seen among established celebrities such as Walt Whitman and Ulysses S. Grant. His strived for fame or, at the very least, notoriety, such that even the lukewarm and negative press on his American tour served his purposes. (Later in the book, Friedman discusses the 1895 sodomy trials that made Wilde truly notorious and destroyed him in the bargain—there is indeed such a thing as bad publicity.) Friedman provides more insights on Wilde’s strategies on achieving celebrity than on the concept of celebrity itself. His claim that Wilde invented modern celebrity is overstated on its face, and it does not become more edifying once details are supplied. Wilde’s nine “principles of fame creation,” around which Friedman organizes his chapters are merely clichés about celebrity (“Work the Room”), and none of them can seriously be attributed to Wilde. However, Friedman vividly chronicles the early part of Wilde’s career—a little-known but crucial period. He may not show how Wilde invented celebrity, but he certainly shows how Wilde invented Wilde. 16 pages of illus. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary Agency. (Oct.)