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The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography
by Hastings, Selina
- Used
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very Good+ in Very Good dust jacket
- ISBN 10
- 1400061415
- ISBN 13
- 9781400061419
- Seller
-
Fayetteville, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Random House. Very Good+ in Very Good dust jacket. 2010. First US Edition; First Printing. Hardcover. 1400061415 . Very light wear tips of DJ spine, o/w VG+ .
Synopsis
He was a brilliant teller of tales, one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, and at one time the most famous writer in the world, yet W. Somerset Maugham's own true story has never been fully told. At last, the fascinating truth is revealed in a landmark biography by the award-winning writer Selina Hastings. Granted unprecedented access to Maugham's personal correspondence and to newly uncovered interviews with his only child, Hastings portrays the secret loves, betrayals, integrity, and passion that inspired Maugham to create such classics as The Razor's Edge and Of Human Bondage.Hastings vividly presents Maugham's lonely childhood spent with unloving relatives after the death of his parents, a trauma that resulted in shyness, a stammer, and for the rest of his life an urgent need for physical tenderness. Here, too, are his adult triumphs on the stage and page, works that allowed him a glittering social life in which he befriended and sometimes fell out with such luminaries as Dorothy Parker, Charlie Chaplin, D. H. Lawrence, and Winston Churchill.The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham portrays in full for the first time Maugham's disastrous marriage to Syrie Wellcome, a manipulative society woman of dubious morality who trapped Maugham with a pregnancy and an attempted suicide. Hastings also explores Maugham's many affairs with men, including his great love, Gerald Haxton, an alcoholic charmer and a cad. Maugham's courageous work in secret intelligence during two world wars is described in fascinating detail--experiences that provided the inspiration for the groundbreaking Ashenden stories. From the West End to Broadway, from China to the South Pacific, Maugham's restless and remarkably productive life is thrillingly recounted as Hastings uncovers the real stories behind such classics as "Rain," The Painted Veil, Cakes & Ale, and other well-known tales.An epic biography of a hugely talented and hugely conflicted man, The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham is the definitive account of Maugham's extraordinary life.From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Acme Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 2143
- Title
- The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham: A Biography
- Author
- Hastings, Selina
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very Good+ in Very Good dust jacket
- Edition
- First US Edition; First Printing
- ISBN 10
- 1400061415
- ISBN 13
- 9781400061419
- Publisher
- Random House
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 2010
- Keywords
- 1400061415, Lit Bio *
Terms of Sale
Acme Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Acme Books
Biblio member since 2023
Fayetteville, New York
About Acme Books
Online bookseller with almost 40 years of bookselling experience.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Good+
- A term used to denote a condition a slight grade better than Good.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- O/W
- An abbreviation for otherwise
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