On a Chinese Screen, also known as On a Chinese Screen: Sketches of Life in China, is a travel book by W. Somerset Maugham, first published in 1922. It is a series of short sketches Maugham made during a trip along the Yangtze River in 1919-1920, and although ostensibly about China the book is equally focused on the various westerners he met during the trip and their struggles to accept or adapt to the cultural differences they encounter, which are...

THE SUMMING UP is rare among literary autobiographies for its scope and honesty. While Maugham analyzes his work in drama and fiction, this is far more than a list of publishing triumphs. He sorts 40 years of experience and gives us the distillation of his ethic and philosophy. Like many other successful authors Maugham started as a physician, but writing called him early. At 23, based on his experiences in a slum hospital, he wrote LIZA OF LAMBETH,...

Stranded passengers on Pago Pago during an epidemic including Sadie Thompson, a prostitute and a reformer whose lust for her masquerades as a desire to save her soul. Unable to accept his sin, Alfred Davidson cuts his throat and Sadie goes to Sydney with an admiring marine.

Travel writer Pico Iyer selects vignettes of Maugham's wise and vivid prose that track his transformation from a boyish traveler to a worldly man of letters, looking back on India, China, Russia, and America.

Provides in-depth analysis of the literary work Of Human Bondage, as well as its importance and critical reception. Includes a chronology of the life and works of the author.