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 persona...
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.
The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham的创作者
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![[英国] 塞琳娜·黑斯廷斯](https://img1.doubanio.com/view/personage/m/public/95a1f646e3590bee4cb943562b73fffd.jpg)
塞琳娜·黑斯廷斯 作者
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0 有用 小克 2013-04-13 22:36:18
非常好的毛姆传记，史料丰富，态度客观，文笔也漂亮。
0 有用 威武大将军朱寿 2016-03-29 01:15:27
247.看的时候满脑子想着怎么出去玩……毛姆的晚年好不容易……人红是非多啊……
0 有用 Summer笔记 2021-04-27 15:15:03
几年前陆续听完的，其实更喜欢从作品里了解他。至于现实生活里他怎样风流啊，也很有意思
0 有用 张岱鄂 2023-11-18 22:28:57 广西
内容如书名，确实主要讲Secret Lives，把毛姆的一生写得事无巨细，宛如亲身经历，可想而知看了多少资料，不过主要作品及写作背景也大致作了介绍。最后看到老爷子不幸而痛苦的晚年，不禁唏嘘。读研时查文献曾在图书馆翻过此书。
0 有用 Mr.Ocean 2023-09-24 19:11:20 北京
hear hear
0 有用 张岱鄂 2023-11-18 22:28:57 广西
内容如书名，确实主要讲Secret Lives，把毛姆的一生写得事无巨细，宛如亲身经历，可想而知看了多少资料，不过主要作品及写作背景也大致作了介绍。最后看到老爷子不幸而痛苦的晚年，不禁唏嘘。读研时查文献曾在图书馆翻过此书。
0 有用 Mr.Ocean 2023-09-24 19:11:20 北京
hear hear
0 有用 鸽轮布 2021-08-10 03:44:03
喜欢毛姆的人都不要错过的一本书！作者的文辞非常棒！在大量引用毛姆原文的情况下，依然并不逊色，简直是双倍享受。但是建议不要带着太强烈的道德感读这本书，因为这本书写的完全是另一个世界的故事（那天刷到一篇cmbyn的一星书评，简直是用样板戏的“高大全”标准来衡量主角的人生选择，看得我一脸懵）。毛姆真的是个优秀的人间观察家，一个对文学、（同性）性交、享乐极度热衷的同性作家。好想写一篇完整的书评啊，但是以我... 喜欢毛姆的人都不要错过的一本书！作者的文辞非常棒！在大量引用毛姆原文的情况下，依然并不逊色，简直是双倍享受。但是建议不要带着太强烈的道德感读这本书，因为这本书写的完全是另一个世界的故事（那天刷到一篇cmbyn的一星书评，简直是用样板戏的“高大全”标准来衡量主角的人生选择，看得我一脸懵）。毛姆真的是个优秀的人间观察家，一个对文学、（同性）性交、享乐极度热衷的同性作家。好想写一篇完整的书评啊，但是以我的写作速度和现在的生活状态，猴年马月都写不完。(╯﹏╰） ps 在艾滋病出现以前，性交真的和握手一样随便。 (展开)
0 有用 翻译赵灿 2021-06-26 23:15:40
哇……写得好好哇，我竟然不知道是这样的毛姆！A marvelous life brilliantly told.
0 有用 Summer笔记 2021-04-27 15:15:03
几年前陆续听完的，其实更喜欢从作品里了解他。至于现实生活里他怎样风流啊，也很有意思