Oscar Wilde was already famous as a brilliant wit and raconteur when he first began to publish his short stories in the late 1880s. They have never lacked readers and admirers, George Orwell and W. B. Yeats among them. The stories give free rein to Wilde\047s originality, literary skill, and sophistication. They include poignant fairy-tales such as \047The Happy Prince\047 and \047The Selfish Giant\047, and the extravagant comedy and social observation of \047Lord Arthur Savile\047s Crime\047 and \047The Canterville Ghost\047. They also encompass the daring narrative experiments of \047The Portrait of Mr. W. H.\047, Wilde\047s fictional investigation into the identity of the dedicatee of Shakespeare\047s sonnets, and the \047Poems in Prose\047, based on the Gospel stories. This edition demonstrates the centrality of Wilde\047s shorter fiction in his literary career, and his continuing development and experimentation with the short story format. Combining myth, romance, and irony, Wilde\047s stories enthral and challenge the reader.