Because of a sever stammer, Maugham was unable to follow in his father's and grandfather's footsteps as an attorney. Instead, he turned to a medical career, studying at St. Thomas Hospital in London. Working in the slums of Lambeth as an obstetric clerk, Maugham's experiences led him to write Liza of Lambeth (1897). The book was so popular that it convinced him to give up medicine for a writing career. Over the next ten years, he wrote numerous plays and novels, but it wasn't until the publication of Lady Frederick in 1907, that he achieved literary fame. He served as an ambulance driver in France during World War I and was recruited by MI6 to act as a secret agent in Europe. He also spent some time in Russia during the Revolution. During the war, he had published Of Human Bondage (1915), which has become his best-known work and is of a semi-autobiographical nature. In 1919, he published The Moon and Sixpence, another immensely popular work. Maugham wrote many plays and was also a master of the short story. His other well-known works include The Circle (1921), The Trembling of a Leaf (1921), Our Betters (1923), The Painted Veil (1925), The Constant Wife (1927), Cakes and Ale (1930), Cosmopolitans (1936), The Summing Up (1938), The Razor's Edge (1944), Quartet (1948), Catalina (1948), Far and Wide (1955) and Looking Back (1962). |
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