Book description
This classic collection of stories moves from England, France and Spain
to the silver sands of the South Pacific. It includes the famous story
'Rain', the tragedy of a narrow-minded and overzealous missionary and a
prostitute, and 'The Three Fat Women of Antibes,' an extravagantly
sardonic tale of abstention and greed, as well as a host of other
brilliant tales. William Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived
in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury,
and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital
with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first
novel,
Liza of Lambeth
, published in 1897, won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage
, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the
publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence
his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame
as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with
acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several
short story collections. His other works include travel books, essays,
criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up
and A Writer's Notebook
. In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived
there until his death in 1965
