[.ca] The Great Exotic Novels and Short Stories of Somerset ... (ISBN 0786708131)

Global Tour De Force!:
The ability of this man to put insight within insight into the innermost knooks and crannies of the human condition and then palce you, the reader, almost, but not quite, clautrophobically close to the action (or often a lack of) is literally mesmerizing! He was not a man easily fooled by anyone. He then endows the reader with this insight from which I, for one, leaned a great deal. Every one of his characters is keenly observed and fully fleshed into often tragic believability but always alive with their human-ness, warts and all. I miss his stories more than any others when I'm finished. This collection is a global tour de force, rich in colour, intrigue and the dust that setles on the crooked paths his characters tread. Get it, read it (several times), you won't be sorry!

An Excellent Collection, an Excellent Writer:
Maugham claimed that he was "in the very first row of the second-raters". Maybe, but maybe not. While his style may not elevate his work to the status of "great literature," you owe it to yourself to read Maugham. This collection is a fine place to start. The Moon and Sixpence is based on the life of Paul Gaugin and The Magician is based more than loosely on Aleistar Crowley's exploits. Fascinating people who Maugham used to craft page-turning stories around. Maugham is greatly underappreciated. This is a great collection to begin exploring his work.