Somerset Maugham

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.

I discovered Somerset Maugham about 10 years ago. I had ignored his works before that because my brain reacts in a not-so-polite way to books in the "classics" section: it goes into REM mode. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy his works, although there were parts that were somewhat disturbing and many of his short stories seem to have a similar plot. This biography has helped me understand where the writer was coming from. Sadly, now I am a bit more disturbed about the human being behind the writer. But since I am a reader, it is the writer whom I can judge. Why four instead of five stars? Because of some repetitions, without which I would have had saved some time, maybe to re-read "The Moon and Sixpence".

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.

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.