Maugham's art of handling plot has been compared
sometimes to the one of Guy de Maupassant
His
first novel, Liza Of Lambert was published in 1897 and his
first play, A Man Of Honour was performed in
1903.
But his fame started with Of Human
Bondage in 1915, largely autobiograhic and considered as his
best work.
In 1928 he moved to Cap Ferrat,
at the Mediterannean French coast, from where he travelled
all over the world.
Amongst his famous
plays, The Circle (1921), a satire of social life, Our
Betters (1923), The Constant Wife (1927) were performed not
only in Europe, but also in the United
States.
Amongst his best-known short
stories: The Moon And The Sixpence (1919), Trembling Of A
Leaf (1921), Cakes And Ale, and The Skeleton Cupboard(1930).
Razor's Edge (1944) was turned twice into a
film.
With Ashenden Or The British Agent in
1928, a spy novel, partly autobiographic, Somerset Maugham
places himself in the lineage of "spy-writers" like Daniel Defoe.
