Maugham first achieved fame as a playwright, with hits such as Lady Frederick (1907). His enduring literary reputation, however, rests chiefly on his novels and short stories, celebrated for their clear, economical prose, worldly irony, and sharp insight into human nature. His masterpiece, Of Human Bondage (1915), is a semi-autobiographical study of an artist's struggle with passion, obsession, and freedom. Other major novels include The Moon and Sixpence (1919), inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin; Cakes and Ale (1930); and The Razor's Edge (1944). His short stories, such as "Rain" and "The Letter," along with the autobiographical The Summing Up (1938), further established him as a master storyteller with a skeptical, cosmopolitan vision of life.
William Somerset Maum
William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965) was a British novelist, playwright, and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the most popular and commercially successful authors of the twentieth century. Born in Paris and orphaned at the age of ten, he was raised by an uncle in England and later studied medicine at St Thomas's Hospital in London. His first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), drew on his experiences as a medical student in the slums, and its success encouraged him to pursue writing full-time.