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W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
W. Somerset
Maugham (1874–1965)—
Born in Paris, Maugham became an orphan at age ten and moved shortly afterwards
to
London
. He studied at Cantebury and
Heidelberg
before returning to
London
to become a surgeon. With the minor success of
his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, he turned to writing full time. Though
best known for his short stories, particularly Rain, originally published
in the collection The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), he also experienced
success as a novelist and playwright. In 1908 four of his plays ran
simultaneously in
London
theaters. Among
his most successful plays were The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The
Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), and Cakes and Ale (1930).
His 1915 semi-autobiographical novel Of Human Bondage was considered by
critics and the author himself to be his best work.
Maugham said of his work: “I
write stories about people who have some singularity of character which suggests
to me that they may be capable of behaving in such a way … that I can make use
of, or about people who by some accident or another, accident of temperament,
accident of environment, have been involved in unusual contingencies.” Though
his mind began to slip in his later years, Maugham continued writing until his
death in 1965.
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