Talk on the Wilde Side focuses on the formation of a new `type' of sexual category in the newpaper reports of the trials of Oscar Wilde, relating this to middle-class discussions of masculinity throughout the nineteenth century.

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Comment: I can't believe I'm writing the first review for a book that is so important to the field of sexuality and queer theory. Ed Cohen has created one of the most comprehensive discussions that focuses on the origins of sexuality in Victorian England. By focusing on the development of masculinity and manliness in Victorian England as predicated by Victorian terms, Cohen developes an acute sense of what it meant to be a "man" in England during the late 19th century. Later in the book he developes, in the Foucaultnian tradition, the response by the judicial system, the press, and society to "unmanliness". The Wilde trials become the focus for his discussion on the dissemination of discursive language from literature and the media. If there is anything to obtain from this review it is that you cannot possibly understand Victorian sexuality without purchasing this book. It is worth so much more than it costs.

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