- Hardcover: 432 pages
- Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (Feb 17 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0375414754
- ISBN-13: 978-0375414756
- Product Dimensions: 24.2 x 16.8 x 3.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 807 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,326,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
The long-lived and highly prolific Maugham (18741965) finds a sympathetic biographer in the similarly productive Meyers (George Orwell, etc.). This inveterate traveler was marked as a wanderer by his Parisian birth and early orphanhood-he journeyed from Europe and America to the South Seas and the Far East-and he was a natural for the secret service in civil war Russia. Maugham's largely unhappy existence culminated in unfulfilling luxury in exile, elusive critical approval in England and embittered misanthropy. After becoming a bestselling author and popular playwright, Maugham stayed away from England, as much to avoid its tax code as to conduct his secretive sex life away from draconian laws against homosexuality. Since Maugham preferred basing his work on real events from his travels and real people from his social circle, his biographer must provide plot summaries and decode identities. While this could be cruelly obvious, as in the reputation-wrecking portrait of the novelist Hugh Walpole in Cakes and Ale, Meyers finds a match for Of Human Bondage's Mildred in Maugham's one-time companion Harry Philips, and, in general, he diligently collates fiction and fact. While Maugham was clearly important in the literary world, Meyers's high estimation of him, compared with his rivals and betters such as Ernest Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence and Joseph Conrad, is not fully convincing. Maugham's characteristically harsh but accurate verdict on his own position as "in the very first row of the second-raters" trumps Meyers's praise and reassessment, but Meyers does show how Maugham maintained, through determination as much as talent, the longest successful career in English letters. 55 photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Prolific biographer Meyers--whose previous subjects have included Lawrence, Hemingway, Orwell, Fitzgerald, and Humphrey Bogart--now adds writer W. Somerset Maugham to his long and distinguished bibliography. Most literary biographies are more about the works than the life, but Maugham is an exception. His novels, once best-sellers, are seldom read today, but he lived a life of some drama and no little intrigue (despite being a reserved, disciplined, and orderly man). During World War I, Maugham worked as a secret agent for the British government. Posted to Russia in 1917, he just happened to serve as chief saboteur for Britain and America in the months prior to the October Revolution. Maugham's restless wanderings--he resided for various periods of time in just about every exotic locale in the world--and his manifold sexual adventures (with a few women and many men) are explored in detail here, and they make for a fascinating story. An absorbing and readable biography. Trygve Thoreson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding,
By Peck Ransom (Alberta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Somerset Maugham (Hardcover)
I'd highly recommend this biography, along with Ted Morgan's one as they are both great, and surprisingly don't cover a lot of the same territory. In fact, you should read both to get a greater perspective on Maugham.
But this version is more for those who want a quick but serious read. It's extremely well written and entertaining, without sounding like a People's Magazine article. Meyers attempts to give an even-handed picture of Maugham and he does just that. My only complaints with this bio are as follows: There is a major typo in the introduction, where "Somerset" is spelled "Somersault," which, had it been in italics, might have made the reader think it was a play on words; Maugham might have loved it. But I think it was simply a mistake. Also, in the author's forematter, he goes into great detail to tell us "I plan to show this," and "I plan to prove that," which is a bit off putting. The last ten pages of the book got a bit tedious as they made endless comparisons to other writer's works. These are great and accurate, but feel "stuck on." The only other problem I saw was that Meyers claims Maugham had a stutter, even giving examples (paraphrasing here: "I llllllll . . . love you."). In Morgan's biography, he claims Maugham had a stammer, which is qutie different. A stammer is where one stops speaking altogether, trying to find the right word or syllable. Not having personally known Maugham, we have to go by the reports of others. But this is a minor flaw in one of the author's works, so who can know for sure. For accuracy and pleasure, I'd recommend this bio, along with the Morgan for a complete picture of Maugham from beginning to end. Why then you ask am I giving this five stars? Simply because even with its flaws, this is a terrific book.
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Life of an Underrated Author,
By
This review is from: Somerset Maugham (Hardcover)
Jeffrey Meyers is a prolific biographer of literary figures whose books are hit-and-miss - while never less than professional, they are sometimes excellent and sometimes disappointing, depending on the rapport that Meyers has with his subject. But they are always marked by his remarkable industry and erudition. I've enjoyed most of them very much, and his last book, on George Orwell, was excellent.I'm delighted to say that his new book on W. Somerset Maugham is just as good. It's possible that Meyers feels a rapport with Maugham because, like his subject, Meyers is fantastically prolific and not given his due by the intelligentsia. Whatever the reason, this is an excellent biography of an underrated writer, and immediately becomes the standard life of its subject. Maugham was a very fertile writer and, like anyone who writes a lot, his production is uneven. Some of his books -- "Of Human Bondage" and "Cakes and Ale" come to mind -- will live as long as any English novels of the last century. Others, such as his historical novel about Machiavelli, "Then and Now," which Edmund Wilson used to unfairly trash his entire body of work in a 1946 New Yorker review, will most likely be forgotten. But Maugham wrote brilliantly in virtually every genre, from the essay to the spy story (his "Ashenden" had a noticeable influence on Ian Fleming's creation James Bond) to the travel book to plays (he once had four plays on the West End at once -- a feat that's been seldom duplicated) to the novel and short story, and the best of his work will live. Meyers illuminates his life with understanding and tact, and avoids (or at least does his best to downplay) the prurient detail so indulged in by other, more sensational biographers (Ted Morgan leaps to mind). So if you're at all intrigued by the most successful author of his time, or if you're already a fan of his work and would like a sympathetic (yet not uncritical) look at his life, I would highly recommend Jeffrey Meyers new biography. And I can't wait to see which author he tackles next.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.0 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews) 32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Life of an Underrated Author,
By Tom Moran - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Somerset Maugham (Hardcover)
Jeffrey Meyers is a prolific biographer of literary figures whose books are hit-and-miss - while never less than professional, they are sometimes excellent and sometimes disappointing, depending on the rapport that Meyers has with his subject. But they are always marked by his remarkable industry and erudition. I've enjoyed most of them very much, and his last book, on George Orwell, was excellent.I'm delighted to say that his new book on W. Somerset Maugham is just as good. It's possible that Meyers feels a rapport with Maugham because, like his subject, Meyers is fantastically prolific and not given his due by the intelligentsia. Whatever the reason, this is an excellent biography of an underrated writer, and immediately becomes the standard life of its subject. Maugham was a very fertile writer and, like anyone who writes a lot, his production is uneven. Some of his books -- "Of Human Bondage" and "Cakes and Ale" come to mind -- will live as long as any English novels of the last century. Others, such as his historical novel about Machiavelli, "Then and Now," which Edmund Wilson used to unfairly trash his entire body of work in a 1946 New Yorker review, will most likely be forgotten. But Maugham wrote brilliantly in virtually every genre, from the essay to the spy story (his "Ashenden" had a noticeable influence on Ian Fleming's creation James Bond) to the travel book to plays (he once had four plays on the West End at once -- a feat that's been seldom duplicated) to the novel and short story, and the best of his work will live. Meyers illuminates his life with understanding and tact, and avoids (or at least does his best to downplay) the prurient detail so indulged in by other, more sensational biographers (Ted Morgan leaps to mind). So if you're at all intrigued by the most successful author of his time, or if you're already a fan of his work and would like a sympathetic (yet not uncritical) look at his life, I would highly recommend Jeffrey Meyers new biography. And I can't wait to see which author he tackles next. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderfully integrates Maugham's work with his personal life,
By R. J. Marsella - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Somerset Maugham: A Life (Paperback)
Over the years W. Somerset Maugham has become one of if not my favorite author. His Novels, plays and short stories capture his time and social circumstances perfectly. He is the consumate Edwardian writer.
Jeffrey Meyer has produced a great biography that combines well researched details of Mauham's personal life with analysis of his work from various periods of his long and prolific career. This is a wonderful biography, that fully immerses the reader in the world of Maugham as a writer and a man who had obvious shortcomings but yet emerges from this as a sympathetic character. There is much here for the fan of Maugham that will illuminate some of his better known characterizations as being based on individuals in his life. Overall I found this to be a highly readable and very enjoyable literary biography and I will be sure to check out more of Meyers' work as well as revisit some of Maugham's as a result of having read this. 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent,
By B. Khosrowshahi - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Somerset Maugham (Hardcover)
Maugham is one of the best authors of the 20th C. and Mr. Meyers not only does an excellent job summing up his life but a notable job analyzing his works. Through this meandering work we are able to learn much about Maugham as a person (some of which I did not care to know as it shattered my image of him) and about his private life. The book alo does an excellent job charcterising [...]. All in all a worthwhile book.
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