what I'm reading now : wilde cromwell

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What would Little Augury be without a book posting now and again? I am coming off a WOLF HALL- Hilary Mantel- loving Thomas Cromwell moment. Not laborious, but maybe a bit too long, OK-I am convinced Cromwell was a dear-an aesthete even. I suppose I will be obliged to read the next Mantel book a continuation of the very man.
See the prettiest cast of TUDORS ever you'd want to see Here.  I don't think Booker Prize winner Mantel was tuned in.

Along with WOLF I am reading Joan DeJean's THE AGE OF COMFORT: WHEN PARIS DISCOVERED CASUAL--AND THE MODERN HOME BEGAN. Witty writing and chock full of dainties about all things pertaining on the topic-recommended by An Aesthete's Lament.

I will be finishing at least one when Oscar Wilde arrives.

'murder is always a mistake-one should never do anything one cannot talk about after dinner.'

That's Oscar Wilde- the detective.
You didn't know he was a sleuth?
Ah, not surprising-I think there is still much to be learned about this great aesthete. I caught up on the trail of OW detective from le style et la matiere this summer. The OSCAR WILDE MYSTERIES are by Gyles Brandreth.* His latest is the Dead Man's Smile.
I started reading the mystery genre in my teens-with I think- one of the best- Agatha Christie. Surely-haven't read them all, but many- Hercule Poirot is my favourite. No, I never read Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys-no offense to either. Of course Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle are quintessential reading for sleuth lovers- and Conan Doyle works through ideas with our Oscar in Brandreth's books, as does Bram Stoker and Robert Sherard-Oscar Wilde's loyal friend who plays "Watson" to WILDE"S "Sherlock."
The result of my loving a mystery is such that any historical figure attempting the noble profession in fiction- I am fascinated by.
No they are not all exceptional- but still, I am greatly diverted.
I would have been a detective if interior design-another mystery-had not beckoned.

Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile

Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder

Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance

The second book ...a Game Called Murder finds Oscar Wilde coming off the success of Lady Windmere's Fan  and hosting a dinner party where he proposes a game called “Murder.”
Murder poses the question:

Who would you kill, if you had no chance of being caught?

no,no-Don't answer that! Unless you are compelled beyond reason-
Rather answer this age old question:

If you had to dine with one famous historical figure who would that be?

Isn't my answer obvious?

See Gyles Brandreth take a walk on the Wilde side:

 

*Gyles Brandreth is a former Oxford Scholar and President of the Oxford Union and worked in theatre, television and publishing before becoming MP for the City of Chester in 1992. He held a number of junior ministerial appointments before becoming a Government Whip. In the run-up to the 1997 General Election he was Lord Commissionar of the Treasury with special responsibility for the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Kenneth Clarke), the Cabinet Office, and the Deputy Minister (Michael Heseltine).

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what they're READING now

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I checked back in with my reader's from the Summer Reading Series. Here's where they are and what they said-

An Aesthete's Lament


The one I am reading right now? I just finished (last night) "Rage for Fame," a biography of Clare Boothe Luce ... The next book I shall read is "Conversation Pieces" by Mario Praz ...

theHouse of Beauty and Culture

There is a growing stack (In House, More is More - Tony Duquette, and the new book on David Hicks among them) that I have not even had a chance to look at. This is a very bad habit. I still haven't yet read Pat Montadon's book (2007) or Kevin Sessum's Mississippi Sissy (2007). And, the books I ordered last week (Divas on Screen being among those) are due in on Tuesday! But I digress, in answer to your question I am currently reading: Madeleine Vionnet by Pamela Golbin (new), Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State by Diane Kanner (2005), and Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann (2005)

And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all.


JCB
Oh, I am never reading just one book! Right now: Angela Davis-Gardner, Plum Wine.

"A mystery that unfolds as beautifully, delicately, and ceremoniously as a lotus blossom. One of the most memorable novels I have read in many years." —Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls

& Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance. I am organizing my book week for next month...and will finally write that little piece on seasonal reading you suggested (inspired by the Paris Review interviews).le style et la matiereBooks? You do mean books, don't you? The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (rereading - inspired by a certain LA post); The Art of Arts by Anita Albus profound reflections on painting, art, symbols of human life through an examination of Dutch art and thinkers of various cultures; Decorating is Fun by Dorothy Draper (I understand Jennifer Boles' inspiration; they are both light and breezy but get down to important brass tacks in an original way); Ghost Stories by Edith Wharton (seasonal yes, but I'd never read these and they are worth reading at anytime)... Mrs BlandingsI am reading the Cecil Beaton biography by Hugo Vickers &Emily Evans Eerdmann’s Classic English Design and Antiques. Can’t wait to see what else is on everyone’s bedside tables!& MeIf nothing else-checking back in with all makes me know I am not alone. As HOBAC says of his growing stack-And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all.Currently reading- Clarence John Laughlin Prophet Without Honor by A.J. Meek, along with reviewing his published photography books. When I want to switch it up- I go to Ottoline Morrell: Life on the Grand Scale by Miranda Seymour.On my groaning bedside table, next up- Journey Into The Mind's Eye by Lesley Blanch and The House of Life by Mario Praz. Both books recommended by AAL and the Lesley Blanch book by Lucindaville. On the book's jacket, Blanch writes "My book is not altogether autobiography, nor altogether travel or history either. You will just have to invent a new category." In the fiction category-Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel the 2009 Booker Prize winner.


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following & THE PRIVATE WORLD OF YSL & PIERRE BERGE II

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ah ha!

Aren't the twists and turns of this sphere what draws us always back?

...the comments, the often times enlightening ones, the fellow inhabitants that we respect and rely on to elevate the conversation. le style et la matiere is one of these. She added the French cover of the YSL Pierre Berge book to the mix in her post yesterday & it is arresting. Have a look at the cover here & here.

COVER III
being the 1st published cover in France

The photographer IVAN TERESTCHENKO'S site features the French cover, published by ALBIN MICHEL here , along with the subsequent covers published in the UK by Thames & Hudson & the US by Vendome.

Terestchenko also comments on the covers at le style et la matiere here. Go read his comments & see mine as well. If you have already shared your thoughts on the two covers I featured in yesterday's post, I'd love to know what you think of this one. Does it change your mind? Are you on board with the French cover?

Comment on the 3rd cover (That being the 1st one published) with Me here & become a follower of the blog by signing up in the section just below My Profile information. This will make you eligible to win the book of your preference- alas not the French one-but if you are wise you will follow me over here & know what's in the wind. If you aren't following along there-You don't know what you are missing.

COVER I
UK

COVER II
US

read the 1st post on little augury here. read the comments too- they are the best of all!


Notoriously shy, the designer and Bergé lived in luxury, surrounded by incomparable collections of furniture and art. From the serene interiors of their apartment on the Rue Babylone to the incandescent beauty of the Villa Majorelle in Marrakech, Bergé and Saint Laurent’s sensibilities come alive. Taken after Saint Laurent’s death in 2008, Ivan Terestchenko’s photographs capture these exquisite surroundings in full, showcasing nineteenth-century French décor, important paintings by modern and Romantic artists, and masterpieces of furniture, sculpture, and silver ranging from the Renaissance to the Art Deco era. Though the homes presented here are now empty, The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé is a testament to a rare union of passion, elegance, and supreme connoisseurship. (from Amazon)

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le style et la matiere-tie one on

Eva Green in costume as the boarding school teacher, Mrs G. in Cracks.
Vanity Fair (August 09)

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She reminds me of this beauty

Andie MacDowell

go see le style et la matiere's posting on ties "elegance masculine" here

AAL reprise...you're the top

As for my Summer Reading List- it will continue NEXT Week with two more LISTS-

le style et la matiere (here) and Porter Hovey (here).

I also have two of my friends weigh in on what they are reading, along with more Summer Reading posts- from Beverly Nichols editor- authority Roy Dicks (here) about the reissue of Beverly Nichols' otherworldly garden books and the natty author BN himself.


BUT after over 150 posts- 183 to be exact-I don't like celebrations about what I do- I'm a behind the scenes girl- But again am reminded of why I started my blog- If you didn't read my first post, it was the loss of a dearly dearly loved friend- who this blog links me to EVERYDAY, and for that I am beyond over the moon about and also the words of a beyond-worldly wise blogger.

so to sum it up- A God Send of my Favorites in one 2 minute video- Cole Porter, Diana Rigg, Agatha Christie, Hercule Poirot, glamour, and a little German (or maybe I should say a little Belgian)