Happy birthday Oscar Wilde!
A celebrated playwright, poet, novelist, and journalist, Oscar Wilde was famous for his superior intellect, wry sense of humor, and profound insights into human nature. He relied on these traits to bring levity to the deeper themes within the story—a tactic that made the his darker points more palatable and made his stories resonate as strongly today as they did in his time. The themes he wrote about are still part of our world today, and writers look to his writing to find inspiration and lessons in storytelling.
In celebration of his 170th birthday, let’s take a look at how his life shaped his views and what lessons writers can learn from him today.
Drawn to Beauty and Art
Born Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin, Ireland on October 16, 1854, Wilde’s life was a colorful and complicated as his name. As a member of the city’s elite, he lived a privileged life. He studied the classics at Trinity College in Dublin, then studied at Madgalen College in Oxford, England where he became enamored with the aesthetic movement, which emphasized an appreciation of beauty in all things and the creation of art for the sake of art alone. This set the course for him to challenge the austere societal norms of the Victorian Age. With his armor of witty commentary, eloquence, and pointed irony, Wilde created a way to speak to the truth of what he was experiencing as an observer and a talented artist through the themes of identity, morality, and the complexity of human relationships.
Wilde’s works, including The Picture of Dorian Gray, A Woman of No Importance, The Importance of Being Earnest, and numerous poems and essays continue to influence writers and challenge readers to this day. His work and their characters have opened the door to a reinterpretation of what it means to be human, as seen in the case of The Picture of Dorian Gray. The “monster” that his main character changes into has been compared to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in that the authors see a monster in the people around them when they recognize the true fear of determining one’s own identity. The lesson: If the creator can not handle the responsibilities of the creation process, then the creation will fail. If the creation fails, then ultimately the creator fails and the true colors of mankind are revealed.
Oscar Wilde’s birthday is not just a celebration of his life but an invitation for writers to embrace their own creativity, challenge the norms of the day, and explore the intricacies of human nature. As you reflect on his contributions, consider how his legacy can inspire your own writing journey. Dive into the wit, beauty, and complexity that Wilde championed, and let it be your guide as you pick up your pen!
Join in the laughter with the authors of humor and satire Chanticleer has worked with over the years!
Dared to Return: A Kate Anderson Mystery (Book 2)
By J.J. Clarke
Kate Anderson has an exciting new life in Tampa Bay, Florida. An aspiring writer with a new book recently released, she’s left behind her old life as a court investigator in Kingseat, Missouri. But when she receives a frantic call from her ninety-two-year-old grandfather, Theodore, she hops on a plane back home.
Just five weeks earlier, Kate’s step-grandmother, Helen, died. Not long after Helen’s death, Kate’s grandfather was thrown out of his house and sent to the Squaw Valley Nursing Home, a place where old people go to die. Unbeknownst to Kate, most of Helen’s two-million-dollar estate has been left in trust – and not to her husband of twenty-five years. The trustee is a corrupt secret society known as HOGG, a group of important town officials who con elderly citizens out of their money, distribute it to charities and take a considerable percentage for themselves.
Drunk Talk
By Mike Davis, TL Banks
The essential message of this satiric volume is that most people tend to nurse false notions about their lives and the universe in general – notions that the authors rapidly and thoroughly debunk. They take the stance of a drunk hanging out at a bar, hearing about everything that goes on in people’s minds. In forty-eight segments, various human problems are examined, derided, and substituted for what many readers will consider far more rational viewpoints.
Some issues raised seem trivial – “Celebrities” who do not, as might be supposed, get to enjoy their fame since the general attitude toward them is “shut up and entertain us or else.” Other matters are significant. One of the longer treatises focuses on “Gods,” with the authors asserting that God is merely an imaginary projection, and religion only a means of seeing and believing what people want, “even if it’s not real or makes no sense.” A true, non-superstition-based belief system would impel people to help others more and take full responsibility for their actions.
Insynnium
By Tim Cole
Winner of the Cygnus CIBA Award
The dramatic premise explored in a new novel,Insynnium, is a wild, immersive leap into a world-changing (but fictional) drug. In other hands, what could be a dystopian thriller goes one step further in author Tim Cole’s capable hands. He focuses on the humans who first discover and use the drug and weaves his story with a devilish charm.
This is somewhat Bill Murray/“Groundhog Day” territory, a film exploring one man’s reliving a day in his life over and over until he learned new behaviors, new skills, and came out of it a better man. Unlike “Groundhog,” Max McVista takes multiple doses of the drug against all advice, then somehow expands time itself in what he calls an “AUE” or “Alternative Universe Experience,” enabling him to spend months and sometimes years becoming or experiencing whatever he wishes. When returning to real-time, he’s only missed a day or two. (For E=MC squared fans, it’s basically reverse engineering of Einsteinian physics.)
Eudora Space Kid: The Lobster Tale
By David Horn
In Eudora Space Kid: The Lobster Tale, author David Horn continues the spell-binding adventures of a third-grade girl living on a massive spaceship in the year 4021. Eudora Jenkins enjoys using her very sharp mind to play tricks on the grown-ups – but her latest one may backfire and cause an interplanetary crisis.
As The Lobster Taleopens, Eudora, the narrator and mastermind of her sometimes disastrous but always hilarious gambits, is in a tunnel on the AstroLiner Athena. The plan? Just a few minorcomputer alterations. She is aided in this naughty but essentially harmless prank by her sometimes nervous buddy Arnold. Her changes will be revealed later when she and Arnold visit the ship’s bridge. Both are excited to watch the regularly scheduled battle training exercises they will view on the main computer.
Hot Air: An Arnold Falls Novel
By Charlie Suisman
Arnold Falls bristles with zany events, quirky locals, and colorful newbies. Above all, this memorable enclave buoys its people through heart, soul, wit, and a true sense of collective spirit.
Jeebie Walker returns as the story’s central narrator.
The successful voice-over artist stands as a solid fixture in the town, now in a loving relationship with his partner Will. A volunteer fireman, illustrator, and candidate for an MA in Conservation Biology, Will jokingly claims that Jeebie makes “bossing others around” a superpower.
In the midst of a mid-life crisis, Jeebie takes on a project of implementing little library cabinets throughout the town. Due to some unscrupulous financial administrators, he also worries about the sudden lack of funding for arts programs at the local hospital.
