Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life, observed Oscar Wilde in his sly but wise 1889 essay "The Decay of Lying," a mock-Socratic dialogue on the purposes of art and etiquette. Also included in this collection, "The Critic as Artist" is a radical reconsideration of criticism, which—far from being a sterile or reactive endeavor—could represent a new form of the contemplative life.