Somerset Maugham is the acknowledged master of the short story, and his full range is represented in this collection. In acclaimed stories such as 'Rain', 'The Letter', 'The Vessel of Wrath' and 'The Alien Corn', Maugham illustrates his wry perception of human weakness and his genius for evoking compelling drama and an acute sense of time and place. His plots are cool and deadly, and his timing is absolutely flawless -- Raymond Chander The short story was Maugham's true metier, and the stories he wrote are among the best in the language -- Anthony Burgess One of our great story-tellers * Independent * At his best he can tell a story as well as any man alive or dead -- Desmond McCarthy
Short Stories