Oscar Wilde was already famous as a brilliant wit and raconteur when he first began to publish his short stories in the late 1880s. Admired by George Orwell and W. B. Yeats, the stories include poignant fairy-tales such as nullThe Happy Princenull and nullThe Selfish Giant,null the extravagant comedy of nullLord Arthur Savile's Crimenull and nullThe Canterville Ghost,null and the daring narrative experiments of nullThe Portrait of Mr. W. H.,null Wilde's fictional investigation into the identity of the dedicatee of Shakespeare's sonnets. John Sloan's Introduction argues for Wilde's originality and literary achievement as a short-story writer, emphasizing his literary skill and sophistication, and arguing for the centrality of Wilde's shorter fiction in his literary career. The collection includes a useful and up-to-date bibliography and extensive and helpful explanatory notes, and an Appendix reprints an important passage from the book-length version of nullThe Portrait of Mr. W. H.null on the Neo-Platonic ideal of friendship between men, an important key to the short story's meaning.