When Oscar Wilde visited America, he met with writers like Walt Whitman and Henry James. But during his trip, his playful quips that many of us have come to love, actually seemed to annoy many Americans more than delight them.
Anthony Paletta’s essay “Wilde Ride” discusses Wilde’s encounters with famous Americans, his witticisms on American culture and landscape, and how Wilde’s witty eccentricities were not always so warmly received by the American public.