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"Of Human Bondage" by W. Somerset Maugham. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

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"The Trembling of a Leaf: Little Stories of the South Sea Islands" by W. Somerset Maugham. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

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"The Canadian" by D. Torbett, W. Somerset Maugham. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

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"The Merry-go-round" by W. Somerset Maugham. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.

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Generally agreed as Maugham’s literary masterpiece, “Of Human Bondage” is the semi-autobiographical tale of Philip Carey. First published in 1915, the novel follows the life of Philip, who suffers from the disability of a clubbed foot, from boyhood when he is orphaned and sent to live with his aunt and uncle. Similarly Maugham was sent to live with his aunt and uncle when his mother passed away and also suffered from the disability of a speech impediment. This coming of age story traces the travels of its main character to Germany, Paris, and London, while exploring his intellectual, emotional, and psychological development. His desire to become an artist; his pursuit of a medical degree; and his relationships with four women, the destructive Mildred Rogers, fellow art student Fanny Price, the sensitive author of penny romance novels Norah Nesbit, and the daughter of befriended family man Thorpe Athelny, whose named Sally; are all chronicled throughout the novel. Ultimately “Of Human Bondage” is the story of life’s struggle between ones aspirations and what is reasonably achievable. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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First published in 1919, W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Moon and Sixpence” is an episodic first person narrative based on the life of Paul Gaugin. At the center of the novel is the story of Charles Strickland, an English banker who walks away from a life of privilege, abruptly abandoning his wife and children, in order to pursue his passion to become an artist. Strickland leaves London for Paris and ultimately Tahiti, mirroring the life of Gaugin who would also split with his wife to pursue a life of painting eventually immigrating to Tahiti. The title of the novel, which is never clearly explained in the novel, comes from a review for Maugham’s previous work “Of Human Bondage” in which that novel’s protagonist, Philip Carey, is described as “so busy yearning for the moon that he never saw the sixpence at his feet.” The moon in this sense might be seen as the lofty ambition to pursue a life of artistic expression in contrast to the sixpence which represents the security of a middle-class life style with wife and children to which the protagonist abandons. “The Moon and Sixpence” is the story of the demands that can be placed on a tortured artistic soul and consequently the lives that it touches. This edition includes a biographical afterword.

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W. Somerset Maugham led many lives, including that of a doctor in London's slums, a successful playwright and novelist, an agent for British Intelligence during World War I, and a world traveler. In 1917, he took the first of many voyages to the Pacific Islands and the Far East, where his keen sense of observation found inspiration for some of his finest writing.Rain and Other South Sea Stories features one of Maugham's most famous tales, concerning the clash between a missionary and a prostitute. «Rain» was adapted for the stage and filmed on three separate occasions, its leading character portrayed by Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, and Rita Hayworth. This collection also includes «Macintosh,» a psychological study of the competition between two officials; «The Fall of Edward Barnard,» a tale of social rebellion that foreshadows The Razor's Edge; «The Pool,» a portrait of a marriage between people from different cultures; and other compelling stories of life in the tropics.

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"Witty, compelling." — The Boston Globe. Gripped by an overwhelming obsession, Charles Strickland, a conventional London stockbroker, decides in midlife to desert his wife, family, business, and civilization for his art. One of Maugham's most popular works, The Moon and Sixpence is a riveting story about an uncompromising and self-destructive man who forsakes wealth and comfort to pursue the life of a painter. Drifting from Paris to Marseilles, Strickland eventually settles in Tahiti, takes a mistress, and in spite of poverty and a long, terminal illness, produces his most passionate and mysterious works of art.Loosely based on the life of Paul Gauguin, Maugham's timeless masterpiece is storytelling at its best — an insightful work focusing on artistic fixation that propels the artist beyond the commonplace into the selfish realm of genius.

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William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) was born in the British embassy in Paris in 1874, son of a British solicitor and his socialite wife. He developed a stammer in childhood, which prevented him from entering into a legal profession like his father and brothers, so it was decided that he would study medicine. His secret passion for literature led to the publication of «Liza of Lambeth» in 1897, and sparked a literary career that would make Maugham one of England's most successful authors of the twentieth century. The novel depicts the Lambeth slum along Vere Street, London, and the people who lived in poverty there. Liza Kent is the youngest of 13 children, is working in a factory in the slum, and enters into a passionate but reckless affair with an older, married neighbor, Jim Blakeston. Although the novel demonstrates clear themes of poverty and stereotypical gender roles, it surprisingly does not call for social reform.

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