W. Somerset Maugham’s Followers (4,977)

W. Somerset Maugham

Born

in Paris, France

January 25, 1874

Died

December 16, 1965

Genre

Fiction, Short Stories

Influences

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

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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 · 247,909 ratings · 21,002 reviews · 1,373 distinct works • Similar authors

	Of Human Bondage 4.13 avg rating — 54,960 ratings — published 1915 — 209 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 4.19 avg rating — 45,429 ratings — published 1944 — 336 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 3.96 avg rating — 43,253 ratings — published 1925 — 732 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 4.13 avg rating — 22,811 ratings — published 1919 — 102 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 4.16 avg rating — 7,899 ratings — published 1937 — 129 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 — 6,941 ratings — published 1930 — 259 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 3.73 avg rating — 6,105 ratings — published 1941 — 180 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 — 4,487 ratings — published 1908 — 1426 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 3.85 avg rating — 3,237 ratings — published 1927 — 263 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
	Collected Short Stories: Volume 1 4.34 avg rating — 2,137 ratings — published 1951 — 29 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…

Series by W. Somerset Maugham

Collected Short Stories of W. Somerset Maugham (4 books)
by

W. Somerset Maugham

4.33 avg rating — 4,721 ratings

Quotes by W. Somerset Maugham (?)

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.”
― W. Somerset Maugham

tags: writing

3822 likes

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
― W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You

tags: bibliotherapy, books, escape, good-habits, life, pleasure, reading, refuge

2200 likes

“The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love.”
― W. Somerset Maugham

tags: love

1539 likes

See all W. Somerset Maugham's quotes »

Polls

2022 4th Quarter Long Read

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham, 1915, 630 pages

62 votes, 28.4%

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, 1985, 960 pages

52 votes, 23.9%

The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, 1971, 886 pages

30 votes, 13.8%

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain, 1933, 688 pages

25 votes, 11.5%

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman, 1962, 658 pages

19 votes, 8.7%

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman, 1960, 864 pages

17 votes, 7.8%

East Lynne by Mrs. Henry Wood, 1853, 694 pages

13 votes, 6.0%

218 total votes

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