W. Somerset Maugham

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...

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...

The Pacific is inconstant and uncertain like the soul of man. Sometimes it is grey like the English Channel off Beachy Head, with a heavy swell, and sometimes it is rough, capped with white crests, and boisterous. It is not so often that it is calm and blue. Then, indeed, the blue is arrogant. The sun shines fiercely from an unclouded sky. The trade wind gets into your blood and you are filled with an impatience for the unknown. The billows, magnificently...

Based on the life of the painter Paul Gauguin, this book relates the life of a Paris stockbroker who abandons his home, family, and business to live as an artist in Tahiti.

Several shops are shown. Their fronts are richly decorated with carved wood painted red and profusely gilt. The counters are elaborately carved. Outside are huge sign-boards. The shops are open to the street and you can see the various wares they sell. One is a coffin shop, where the coolies are at work on a coffin: other coffins, ready for sale, are displayed; some of them are of plain deal, others are rich, with black and gold. The next shop is...

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

"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.

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".

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.

Kate Burton reprises her Tony-nominated performance as Constance Middleton in W. Somerset Maugham's classic comedy of manners. There's something Constance Middleton's friends are dying to tell her: her husband is having an affair, with her best friend! Despite their hints, Constance remains ever cool, and seemingly oblivious. Or is she?