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William Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965)Novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, born in Paris. Orphaned at 10, he studied at Canterbury and Heidelberg, qualifying as a surgeon at St Thomas's Hospital, London, England, UK. His first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), was a minor success, and he turned to writing full-time. Four of his plays ran simultaneously in London in 1908, and he wrote many others, notably The Moon and Sixpence (1919), The Circle (1921), East of Suez (1922), and Cakes and Ale (1930). His novels include the semi-autobiographical Of Human Bondage (1915). He is best known for his short stories, particularly Rain, originally published in the collection, The Trembling of a Leaf (1921). The Complete Short Stories (3 vols) was published in 1951. |