One of the most shocking novels of a generation, "The Picture Of Dorian Gray", combines sparkling wit, social satire and indulgently luxurious description with heavy intensity.

It is Wilde's only published novel and like many first novels contains elements of autobiography.

The three main characters are Basil Hallward, like Wilde an artist inspired by beauty, the languorous and influential Lord Henry whose many quotes "there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about" could have been delivered by Wilde himself and Dorian Gray's lust for eternal youth was inspired by Wilde, who on seeing a portrait of himself painted by Francis Richards remarked "What a tragic thing it is! The portrait will never grow older and I shall. If it was only the other way!".

Rupert Graves, the very versatile young actor whose films have varied from "Damage" to "A Room With A View" and from "Maurice" to "A Handful Of Dust" is possibly the ideal person to read "The Picture Of Dorian Gray".

With much dialogue between the three main characters, Rupert takes on each character with considerable zest, giving them identities of their own - thus bringing a brilliant new interpretation to this classic story.

Audio Bank Clip.

©1995 Rupert Graves Online.