It’s humbling to realize everyone who’s read a Kindle edition of Teleny over the past five years is doing so because I wanted to read it myself.

In 2019 (so-called precedented times), I read an excerpt of Teleny in the anthology Pages passed from hand to hand. It was lush, frankly erotic, and in parts surprisingly sweet. I wanted more.

So I went searching. Published in 1893, this story is in the public domain and the full text was on Wikisource. However, I didn’t find Wikisource super readable, and none of the downloadable ebook files were on sites I trusted. The simplest solution: I made my own.

While I was at it, I put the file as inexpensively as possible ($0.99) on Amazon, and then adjusted the file to create a simple and accessible paperback edition. I eventually put together a simple cover using a beautiful photo by Christian Buehner, made available on Unsplash.

Last year, I hired the editor Isabela Calline Campos Calixto to proofread the text, helping me catch some formatting inconsistencies and odd characters (typographical, not literary). I especially appreciate Isabela’s work to track down historically accurate spellings in nineteenth-century dictionaries! There are still some punctuation and style choices that may appear unusual to modern eyes, and the story is told in continuous nested dialogue because of its structure as a conversation between Rene Teleny’s lover Camille Des Grieux and a friend.

Did Oscar Wilde write Teleny?

We’ll never know for sure, unless we somehow find the first draft with his handwritten signature. Personally, I’d be surprised if he never wrote any gay erotica. But is this book an example?

If you enjoyed the dark sensuality of The Picture of Dorian Gray, you’ll probably also enjoy this decadent and tragic piece of gay literary history.

As I read Teleny, I got on board with the theory that it was written “round robin” style by a number of authors, each contributing a chapter or two. This seems plausible not least because some of the chapters quote way more poetry than others. So then the question becomes, which chapter is most likely by Wilde? And who wrote the rest?

I’m no literary detective, even an amateur one, but I hope everyone who wants to make a guess, educated or otherwise, enjoys examining the evidence.

Incomplete content advisory for Teleny

This is Victorian erotica, which could serve as its own content warning for those familiar with that kind of thing. There are scenes of deeply moving, loving, playful and passionate gay intimacy. But it is not a sex-positive romp following people who make safe, fully informed consensual choices. It also cover some topics you might not expect, such as heterosexual sex.

Proceed with a heads-up for period-typical misogyny, homophobia, sexual coercion, and multiple deaths, including death by suicide. This should not be relied on as a complete warning for all distressing content in the book; I’d recommend checking out reviews on Goodreads and elsewhere for additional specific content warnings.

Overall, I’m glad I read this book and gained this glimpse into the imaginations and literary art of gay and bisexual men in the past. I’m equally glad that today, gay and bisexual and queer writers can publish their work more openly and readers have such a wide selection of high-quality stories to chose from. And I look forward to their numbers ever growing!