W. Somerset Maugham’s Followers (6,127)

W. Somerset Maugham

Born

in British Embassy, Paris, The United Kingdom

January 25, 1874

Died

December 16, 1965

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories

Influences

Guy de Maupassant, Honoré de Balzac, Anton Chekhov, Ramana Maharshi ...more

edit data

William Somerset Maugham was born in Paris in 1874. He spoke French even before he spoke a word of English, a fact to which some critics attribute the purity of his style.

His parents died early and, after an unhappy boyhood, which he recorded poignantly in Of Human Bondage, Maugham became a qualified physician. But writing was his true vocation. For ten years before his first success, he almost literally starved while pouring out novels and plays.

Maugham wrote at a time when experimental modernist literature such as that of William Faulkner, Thomas Mann, James Joyce and Virginia Woolf was gaining increasing popularity and winning critical acclaim. In this context, his plain prose style was criticized as 'such a tissue of clichés' that one ...more

Combine Editions
W. Somerset Maugham’s books

Average rating: 4.06 · 300,577 ratings · 26,888 reviews · 2,123 distinct works • Similar authors

	Of Human Bondage 4.16 avg rating — 61,816 ratings — published 1915 — 1109 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Razor’s Edge 4.20 avg rating — 54,198 ratings — published 1944 — 41 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Painted Veil 3.98 avg rating — 52,033 ratings — published 1925 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Moon and Sixpence 4.12 avg rating — 27,353 ratings — published 1919 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Theatre 4.18 avg rating — 9,751 ratings — published 1937 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Up at the Villa 3.74 avg rating — 8,587 ratings — published 1941 — 113 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cakes and Ale 3.77 avg rating — 7,996 ratings — published 1930 — 283 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham, Robert Calder (Introduction) 3.58 avg rating — 5,434 ratings — published 1908 — 1259 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ashenden 3.86 avg rating — 4,127 ratings — published 1927 — 243 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Christmas Holiday 3.73 avg rating — 3,277 ratings — published 1939 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by W. Somerset Maugham…

Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...

Polls

January 2022 New School Classic Group Read

The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham, 1944, 314 pages

49 votes, 25.8%

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, 1953, 256 pages

47 votes, 24.7%

I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven, 1967, 146 pages

28 votes, 14.7%

Jazz by Toni Morrison, 1992, 229 pages

28 votes, 14.7%

Blindness by José Saramago, 1995, 349 pages

22 votes, 11.6%

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, 1959, 289 pages

9 votes, 4.7%

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry, 1947, 397 pages

7 votes, 3.7%

190 total votes

1 comment

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
75 Books...More o...: Authors you love	17	2308	Jan 27, 2009 04:14AM
Listomania: Somerset Maugham's Top Ten	1	231	Aug 14, 2009 07:51AM
The Next Best Boo...: January's Group Reads Are.....	91	503	Jan 12, 2010 07:43AM
The Next Best Boo...: February's WINNERS ARE.....	102	509	Feb 01, 2010 01:13PM
The Seasonal Read...: 5.10 ("The important thing is not what they think of me, but what I think of them.")	29	174	Apr 19, 2010 12:20PM
Book Buying Addic...: Titles A-Z Game	684	822	Apr 21, 2010 07:20PM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2010 Completed Tasks	2717	2514	May 31, 2010 09:00PM
Cover to Cover Ch...: Read-A-Thon Progress and Discussion -- June	41	44	Jun 25, 2010 10:34AM

More…