W Somerset Maugham: 81 books

Not an autobiography nor a book of recollections, but the brilliant and provocative summing-up of the great author W. Somerset Maugham's views on life and art.

Now a major motion picture from USA Films starring Kristin Scott Thomas and Sean Penn, and director Philip Haas (director of Angels and Insects). In Up at the Villa, W. Somerset Maugham portrays a wealthy young English woman who finds herself confronted rather brutally by the repercussions...

"Caesar's Wife A Comedy in Three Acts" is a play that combines romance, intrigue, and profound insight into the human condition? Fans of top-notch dramatic writing will appreciate W. Somerset Maugham's Caesar's Wife, which explores an unusual love triangle between a distinguished, older dignitary, his personal secretary, and his much-younger wife.

This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. Based on the life of French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence builds on a long tradition of European writing about the South Pacific as an exotic locale.  It also marks the transformation...

Based on the life of French post-impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, The Moon and Sixpence builds on a long tradition of European writing about the South Pacific as an exotic locale.  It also marks the transformation of British writer W. Somerset Maughm from celebrated playwright to accomplished novelist. ...

This book, newly updated, contains now several HTML tables of contents that will make reading a real pleasure! The first table of contents (at the very beginning of the ebook) lists the titles of all novels included in this volume. By clicking on one of those titles you will be redirected to the beginning...

Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham's most brillant characters - his fiancee Isabel, whose choice between love and wealth have lifelong repercussions, and Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate...

Maugham wrote The Magician after meeting the famous magician and occultist Aleister Crowly in Paris. He caricatures Crowly as the protagonist Oliver Haddo, a magician who is attempting to create life. Crowly later accused Maugham of plagiarism and Maugham added the foreword A Fragment of Autobiography, which is included in this edition.

When he first meets Charles Strickland, a London stockbroker, the young narrator of this novel thinks of him as "good, honest, dull, and plain." When Strickland suddenly abandons his wife and children and takes off for Paris, however, the narrator decides he is a cad. Though he has had no...

A masterpiece of modern literature that mirrors Maugham’s own career. Of Human Bondage is the first and most autobiographical of Maugham's novels. It is the story of Philip Carey, an orphan eager for life, love and adventure. After a few months studying in Heidelberg, and a brief spell in...

In 1919-20, Maugham journeyed up the Yangtze River, making detailed notes as he went.  Those notes formed the basis for the fifty-eight short sketches included in this volume, each of which is a finely chiseled gem of observation and character.  Some are humorous, some poignant, some scathing, but all contain the warm humanistic genius of Maugham.    

È impossibile, leggendo i superbi ‘racconti orientali’ qui raccolti, non finire irretiti negli scabri avamposti di un Impero britannico ormai presago della fine. Un mondo nostalgico e artificiale, in perenne contrappunto con una giungla evocata da rapidi tocchi eppure incombente e foriera di...

Una striscia argentea di spiaggia, le rigogliose palme da cocco, le case d’erba dei samoani: un’oasi – o un’allucinazione. Cade una pioggia inesorabile, «animata da un’intima rabbia», e i turisti appena sbarcati si lasciano andare al suo ritmo. Fra loro un missionario, una cupa fiamma...

Alle vedove dei grandi scrittori tocca spesso in sorte di trasformarsi in vestali, per mantenere la memoria del caro estinto al riparo da scandali e pettegolezzi. Non è mai un compito facile, e la seconda signora Driffield lo sa bene. Se poi al momento di individuare un agiografo affidabile la scelta...