7 h 23 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a critic offers more than a verdict—and teaches you to see books, art and society differently?
In A Critic in Pall Mall, Oscar Wilde turns the working critic’s eye on books, painting, manners and fashion. These short reviews and pieces of journalism come from London periodicals of the 1880s. Here is Wilde before the great plays, writing to a deadline while asking what beauty, honesty and taste demand.
The collection explores criticism as an art, the power of style, art’s independence from moral lessons, and wit as a way of seeing society. Wilde refuses to let a worthy subject excuse clumsy prose. Nor does he accept that art must be useful or respectable. His light touch gives questions of taste a sharp edge.
What you’ll discover
- The critic as artist Discover why Wilde treats a review as a craft, not merely a summary and verdict.
- Style earns its place Consider how fine form can lift a slight subject, while worthy themes cannot rescue clumsy prose.
- Art beyond the sermon Explore Wilde’s resistance to judging art by its usefulness, moral lessons or respectability.
- Manners under a sharp eye Follow his humour through dress, fashion and the habits that reveal vanity and false seriousness.
- A few pages at a time Meet Wilde’s thinking in short pieces that invite you to examine your own taste.
Who will love it
Readers who love sharp literary opinion, Victorian poetry and theatre, and the pleasure of an elegant joke. It suits anyone curious about how Wilde thought about books, style, beauty and the public.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Keats and the cult of beauty
- Scenery, costume and the stage
- Poets old and new, judged with wit
- Translators, novelists and the Russian masters
- Pater, style and the art of criticism
- Chuang Tzu and the pleasures of mischief
- Women writers, letters and memoirs
- Art, craft and the history of things
- Sayings, and what the book leaves behind
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 7 h 23 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Un crítico en Pall Mall in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Un crítico en Pall Mall
by Oscar Wilde · 1919
Oscar Wilde reviews Keats, Morris, Pater and Yeats in short pieces that sparkle with opinion and jokes.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
A Critic in Pall Mall gathers the book reviews, essays and short notes that Oscar Wilde wrote for London papers and magazines in the 1880s and early 1890s. They first ran in the Pall Mall Gazette, the Dramatic Review, Woman's World, the Speaker and other journals.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Keats and the cult of beauty
The book opens with Wilde in Rome, standing at the grave of John Keats beside the pyramid of Caius Cestius. He describes the Old Protestant Cemetery as a sunny green slope, and the plain stone with its words about a name written in water. He recalls that Keats once said he felt the flowers growing over him, and he sets this humble grave against the grand tombs of popes and emperors elsewhere in the city.
Wilde calls Keats a priest of beauty cut down too young. He compares him to Saint Sebastian in the painting by Guido, pierced by arrows yet looking up toward heaven. He ends the piece with a sonnet of his own, which shows the young poet he still was in 1877.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Un crítico en Pall Mall
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Critic in Pall Mall about?
It collects Oscar Wilde's reviews and short essays from London papers. He writes about poets, novelists, translators, plays, biographies, cooking and conversation, and he shows his views on style, beauty and criticism through humor.
Who does Oscar Wilde review in this book?
He reviews Keats, William Morris, Walter Pater, Swinburne, W. B. Yeats, Henley, George Sand, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Whitman and many others. He also reviews books on lace, marriage, folk songs and the Chinese sage Chuang Tzu.
When were the pieces in A Critic in Pall Mall written?
They were written between 1877 and 1890. Most appeared in London papers and magazines such as the Pall Mall Gazette, the Dramatic Review, Woman's World and the Speaker, before being gathered into one volume.
The author
Oscar Wilde
1854–1900 · Irish playwright and poet
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) was an Irish poet, playwright, and novelist born in Dublin. He lived in London and later in France, where he died in Paris. He published The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890. His play The Importance of Being Earnest was first performed in 1895.
More by Oscar Wilde
All 15 books
Free
Free
Free
More like this
Free
Free
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in philosophy & ideas
See all
Free
Free
Free
Free
