W. Somerset Maugham
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Liza of Lambeth (1897) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Written while the author was living as a medical student in London, the Maugham's debut marked an electrifying start to an illustrious career in literature. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity, domestic violence, and women's reproductive health, Liza of Lambeth is a gritty realist tale that takes an honest look at, the everyday struggles of actual Londoners in a time of celebration...
2) The Magician
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The Magician (1909) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity and occult ritual, The Magician was instrumental in establishing Maugham's reputation as a leading author of the late Victorian era. Inspired by stories of Aleister Crowley, an influential occultist and magician, Maugham crafted a masterpiece of fantasy fiction that would inspire Crowley himself to write a hit piece for Vanity Fair erroneously accusing...
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While most of W. Somerset Maugham's novels achieved high commercial sales and critical acclaim at the turn of the 20th century, Maugham was also an accomplished short story writer. His stories compiled in "Rain and Other South Sea Stories" describe the beauty and feelings of the South Pacific at a time of British colonization. The most popular short story, "Rain", describes the futile attempts of an English missionary to convert a certain prostitute...
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Mrs. Craddock (1902) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Controversial for its portrayal of infidelity and marriage across social classes, Mrs. Craddock was instrumental in establishing Maugham's reputation as a leading author of the late Victorian era. Due to its content, the novel appeared exclusively in Bowdlerized form until Maugham saw it republished in 1938. Bertha Ley has always been independent. Orphaned at a young age, she comes into a sizable...
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Of all Somerset Maugham's novels this is the most entertaining and arguably his best ever. Rosie is a barmaid with a heart of gold and a skeleton in her closet. Maugham's portrait of her makes his novel fairly glow with witty observations of the contemporary literary scene. Features Willie Ashenden, who resurfaces in Maugham's Ashenden.
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The narrator and central figure is Filippo Brandolini. He tells the story of his young-adult life--romance and adventure. Filippo joins forces with friends Checco and Mateo to overthrow Giralomo Riario, who rules over and exploits the town of Forli. Giralomo falls; Checco and Mateo fall; ultimately, Filippo is a wreck of a man, living out his life as a monk, and hoping for the earliest available death. The people of Forli demonstrate a conspicuous...
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"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.
8) Then and Now
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Niccolò Machiavelli is sent as an envoy of the Republic of Florence by Cesare Borgia. The dreaded prince is about to conquer Italy, and does not care about the Emperor or the King of France. From an episode emerges the magnificent portrait of the Italian Renaissance period. A love intrigue is also interwoven in this out of the ordinary Maugham novel where he sets the stage for Machiavelli's "The Prince" and play, "The Mandrake".
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A collection of very short, great stories written for Cosmopolitan Magazine between 1924 and 1929. Once again, Maugham proves himself to be a master of the short fiction form in this brilliant collection of 29 stories which, like so much of his other books, are cosmopolitan in nature and these little gems have a Jazz Era setting.
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Compiled in one book, the essential collection of books by W. Somerset Maugham:
• The Explorer
• The Hero
• The Land of Promise
• The Land of The Blessed Virgin; Sketches and Impressions in Andalusia
• Liza of Lambeth
• The Magician
• Moon and Sixpence
• Of Human Bondage
• Orientations
• The Trembling of a Leaf
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DeAmicitia is about an American art student and English poet living in Paris, and what transpires during their summer trip to Holland.
The Punctiliousness of Don Sebastian tells the story behind the alabaster monument of Don Sebastian and his wife.
Art Fiction is a literary genre in which art is not solely an object, but is a reflection of what is human in all of us. Other examples are:
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
Glimpses of...
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A collection of six stories-including the acclaimed "The Outstation"-by the renowned twentieth-century author of the classic Of Human Bondage.
Set in the Federated Malay States during the 1920s, these stories portray the lives of the English living abroad and the clashes that occur with the native Malaysians-and among themselves.
In "Before the Party," a widow who lies about the cause of her husband's death in Borneo is confronted by her family...
13) Orientations
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This is a collection of six short stories by British author W. Somerset Maugham. With details drawn from Maugham's first extended period of living abroad, the stories offer a unique glimpse into the early stages of the author's artistic development.
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The three novels in this collection, Liza of Lambeth (1897), Mrs Craddock (1902), and The Magician (1908), had a lasting influence on the literary world. Their settings are various--ranging from the South London slums through the Kentish countryside to the British expatriate community in early twentieth-century Paris--and yet they have common qualities. In each, the protagonist is isolated from a traditional community and unable to create new personal...
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This compilation contains three complete novels and eight major short stories from the canon of one of the twentieth century's most enduringly popular fiction writers.
From London to Hong Kong, from Paris to Pago Pago, in Samoa or Malaya or on a Tahitian tropical isle, the men and women in this collection of masterfully crafted tales inhabit exotic, mysterious worlds-and at their own peril invade the dark territory of the human heart.
Somerset Maugham,...
16) The Hero
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The Hero is the story of a war hero returning home only to find his beliefs formed from direct experiences in direct conflict with the beliefs held by his folks and his society. Bewildered at being crowned a hero for committing murder of fellow human beings and with no one to confide his feelings with Jamie turns to despair. (Excerpt from Wikipedia)
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Life in the South Pacific Colonial Islands. Spy for the British Empire, W. Somerset Maugham traveled many times to South Pacific and the Far East. There, he started creating series of short stories about the life of the colonialists and how the remoteness and strangeness of such far-away lands can ultimately destroy the very soul of the civilized man.
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When noted English writer W. Somerset Maugham set off for the South Seas to regain his health, his experiences would become the bedrock for the stories represented here. These are among Maugham's best work, as well as some of the best stories ever written about the exotic South Seas. "Mackintosh" is a taut psychological study of two officials on a remote tropic island. "The Fall of Edward Barnard" is a story about what is important in life, a precursor...
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William Somerset Maugham was an English playwright, novelist, and short-story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.
Both Maugham's parents died before he was 10, and the orphaned boy was raised in Whitstable, Kent by a paternal uncle, who was emotionally cold. He did not want to become a lawyer like other men in his family, so he trained and qualified as a physician. His first...
20) Catalina
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Set in the time of the infamous Spanish Inquisition, Catalina is a novel both richly historical and affectingly human. Two eminent persons, natives of the city, were arriving after an absence of many years, and great doings had been arranged in their honor. In the Lady Chapel of the church a crippled girl prayed to the Blessed Virgin whose day it was, too. No greater things were planned for the girl, Catalina, but greater things awaited her.