Vincent O'Sullivan
Encyclopedia
Vincent O'Sullivan was an American-born short story writer, poet and critic. Born in New York City
to Eugene and Christine O'Sullivan, he began his education in the New York public school system and completed it in Britain. His works dealt with the morbid and decadent. He was a friend of Oscar Wilde
(to whom in his disgrace he was often generous), Leonard Smithers
, Aubrey Beardsley
and other fin-de-siècle figures.
Robert Aickman
wrote of O'Sullivan that:
New York City
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to Eugene and Christine O'Sullivan, he began his education in the New York public school system and completed it in Britain. His works dealt with the morbid and decadent. He was a friend of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
(to whom in his disgrace he was often generous), Leonard Smithers
Leonard Smithers
Leonard Smithers was a London publisher associated with the Decadent movement. Born in Sheffield, he worked as a solicitor, qualifying in 1884, and became friendly with the explorer and orientalist Sir Richard Francis Burton. He published Burton's translation of the Book of One Thousand and One...
, Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Beardsley
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was an English illustrator and author. His drawings, done in black ink and influenced by the style of Japanese woodcuts, emphasized the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He was a leading figure in the Aesthetic movement which also included Oscar Wilde and James A....
and other fin-de-siècle figures.
Robert Aickman
Robert Aickman
Robert Fordyce Aickman was an English conservationist and writer of fiction and nonfiction. As a writer, he is best known for his supernatural fiction, which he described as "strange stories".-Life:...
wrote of O'Sullivan that:
[his short story] "When I Was Dead" is a very rictus or spasm of guilt; sudden and shattering. Vincent O'Sullivan was a master of this dyeing and soaking in guilt. The curious should try to find a copy of his novel, The Good Girl. The quest is difficult, but the product distinctive. O'Sullivan, having lived a longish life as a more or less well-to-do rentierRentierA rentier is an entity that receives income derived from economic rents, which can include anything from the income derived from intellectual property to real estate. Associated terms include* Rentier capitalism* Rentier state...
, in latish middle age found himself ruined, wrote his last book (Opinions) under terrible conditions, and, dying in Paris, ended anonymously in the common pit for the cadavers of paupers.