Book description
Somerset Maugham is the acknowledged master of the short story, and his
full range is represented in this collection. In acclaimed stories such
as 'Rain', 'The Letter', 'The Vessel of Wrath' and 'The Alien Corn',
Maugham illustrates his wry perception of human weakness and his genius
for evoking compelling drama and an acute sense of time and place.
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
