The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

"Cecily Cardew and Gwendolen Fairfax are both in love with the same mythical suitor. Jack Worthing has wooed Gwendolen as Earnest, while Algernon has also posed as Earnest to win the heart of Jack's ward, Cecily. When all four arrive at Jack's country home on the same weekend--the "rivals" to fight for Earnest's undivided attention and the "Earnests" to claim their beloveds--pandemonium breaks loose"--Page 4 of cover.

I listened to the 1977 BBC Radio performance of this play as an audiobook from the library.

Wilde is just so charmingly witty and it's fun to follow the rapid-fire dialogue in this. It was a good time, but I was never completely enamored by it. I think it would be a blast to see performed live with an audience though, so I'll have to seek that out sometime.

Probably one of the best books (or plays) I've ever read. Wilde's style is infectiously delightful, and almost every paragraph had me in splits. His grasp of the very upper class he was later part of for a while is unparalleled, and the satire is all the more perfect for it. The characters are a blast, the story's premise is so ludicrous that it reads like a Bollywood masala movie (except infinitely better), and the ending is such a cute one too!
It's such a short and simple read that I'd recommend this to anyone of any age, no matter what your preferences in reading are.

Very fun play, the quick hitting dialogue is endlessly entertaining. A perfect change of pace read in between heavier books.

So good!
I enjoyed the interview at the end that provided some context and backstory, which enriches the experience of the story. Love the insight that the characters represent pillars of different aspects of society, and how they should be rebuffed/resisted. The governess Miss Prism represents education, the reverend Frederick Chasuble is the church, and Aunt Agusta is the aristocracy.