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The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham

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The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham

by Hastings, Selina

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • first
Condition
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About This Item

New York:: Random House,, 2010.. First US edition.. Hardcover.. Publishers cloth over boards minor shelf wear near fine. Pictorial dust jacket minor shelf wear near fine. About as new. With b&w photos. In new protective mylar. First US edition.

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
Dark Parks Books & Collectibles US (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #
30104
Title
The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham
Author
Hastings, Selina
Book Condition
Used
Edition
First US edition.
Binding
Hardcover
Publisher
Random House,
Place of Publication
New York:
Date Published
2010.
Size
Hardcover.

Terms of Sale

Dark Parks Books & Collectibles

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

Dark Parks Books & Collectibles

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2016
Fallon, Nevada

About Dark Parks Books & Collectibles

Early english printed books specializing in occult, science, religion and oddities. We also have a strong emphasis on modern first editions of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.

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Fine
A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Shelf Wear
Shelf wear (shelfwear) describes damage caused over time to a book by placing and removing a book from a shelf. This damage is...
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...

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