September Book Club Selection

Good Evening Lovelies and Happy Long Weekend!

Per usual, I'm slightly behind in posting.  There are some Book Club related items which I need to share with you, and since I do not want to find myself even further behind, I am keeping on schedule with the September selection for The Vintage Project Book Club!

As I did earlier this year, I started doing some research and came up with a list of potential novels for the next few months.  I do love a good tie-in, and since the October selection will be a nice compliment to the spirit of Halloween that I will be immersing myself in, I thought I would also chose something slightly darker, a bit macabre or morbid in its sensibilities for September since we will be holding that Book Club meeting in October.  While September's novel is not overtly grisly or gory, it is a beautifully haunting and disturbing work of Gothic fiction, meaning it contains elements of both horror and romance.  I thought it was perfect!

Behold, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde!

The first publication of this novel was in the July 1890 edition of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine

While I have read this before, I have been meaning to re-read it for a while and I thought it would be a great title to introduce you to if you are not already familiar.  I have come to learn that Wilde's original text was only published in Lippincott's and the first edition which was published only a year later was heavily edited in order to be considered less vulgar and immoral.  This 1891 version was still met with outrage in England's Victorian society and was edited numerous times in the first few printings.  The original version was only released within the last few years and essentially all the copies floating around are based off the heavily edited (and much longer) version.  Since that is the version that I already own, I will be reading both that version and also the uncensored version that I just purchased.  I am looking forward to comparing the two!  Super nerdy, I know.

Mild by today's standards, why not join me in September in reading what the British press of 1891 called "vulgar", "unclean", and "poisonous"?  It's going to be oh so much fun!

XOXO