Of Human Bondage : 100th Anniversary Edition - Softcover

W. Somerset Maugham; Benjamin DeMott; Maeve Binchy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0451530179 ISBN 13: 9780451530172

Publisher: SIGNET CLASSICS, 2015

Synopsis

Of Human Bondage is a masterpiece of autobiographical fiction and one of Maugham's best -loved works. From a tormented orphan with a clubfoot, Philip Carey grows into an impressionable young man with a voracious appetite for adventure and knowledge. His cravings take him to Paris at age eighteen to try his hand at art, then back to London to study medicine. But even so, nothing can sate his nagging hunger for experience. Then he falls obsessively in love, embarking on a disastrous relationship that will change his life forever.

About this title

About the Author

William Somerset Maugham (1874-1965) studied medicine, but the quick success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), started him on his lifelong literary career, during which he would become one of the most popular English authors since Dickens. His own life, however, was more tragic, shocking, and fascinating than any novel. After his adored parents died, he grew up in a miserable vicarage and suffered from a physical handicap of which he was ashamed. During his lifetime, Maugham would marry and divorce, be sent to Russia as a spy, and entertain such celebrities as Jean Cocteau, Winston Churchill, Noël Coward, the Aga Khan, and Ian Fleming at his Riviera mansion. Among his masterpieces are Of Human Bondage, The Painted Veil, The Razor's Edge, and The Moon and Sixpence. In addition, such works as "The Letter" and "Rain" established Maugham as a gifted short story writer.

Benjamin DeMott (1924-2005) was professor of English and the Mellon professor of humanities at Amherst College. The author of two novels, he was best known for his cultural criticism in leading periodicals and in such books as The Imperial Middle: Why Americans Can't Think Straight About Class and The Trouble with Friendship: Why Americans Can't Think Straight About Race.

Maeve Binchy (1940-2012) was the New York Times bestselling author of Quentins, Scarlet Feather, Tara Road (an Oprah's Book Club Selection), Circle of Friends, Light a Penny Candle, and many other novels.

Edition details

• Publisher: SIGNET CLASSICS
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0451530179
• ISBN 13: 9780451530172
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 690