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Maugham is one of the most proficient storytellers of the 20th century and is known as the "British Maupassant". His short stories have simple writing style, clear context, vivid characters and ups and downs of plots. This book selects 23 of Maugham's best short stories, presenting the customs and customs of the British overseas colonies a century ago, describing the various life styles in Britain and Europe, revealing the layers of fetters in love, marriage, and family, and coldly analyzing the willful hypocrisy, selfishness, and fragility. After this book was published by our publisher in 2016, it received favorable reviews. This reprint has corrected a few errors in text and style.

"The Truth of the World" contains ten short stories. "The Fall of Edward Barnard" tells the story of the protagonist who was forced to go to Tahiti in the South Pacific to do business after his father went bankrupt and committed suicide. At first, he was determined to return to Chicago and marry his girlfriend Isabel after winning wealth and opportunities. But two years later, his thoughts underwent earth-shaking changes... Maugham here created an image of breaking with the Western world, and regarded life in a semi-primitive state of nature far away from material civilization as an ideal model. "Before the Banquet" depicts the image of a woman who suffered misfortune in her marriage, experienced helplessness and hopelessness in Borneo, a colony in the Far East, until she became cold and heartless...

In 1930, "In Search of Joy" was first published in the form of a serial in Harper's Bazaar. In 1958, Maugham said in an interview that "In Search of Joy" was his most proud and favorite novel. Through the description of these characters in "Happiness", Maugham revealed all kinds of bizarre, ridiculous and despicable phenomena in the British literary world at that time. In this novel, Maugham achieved the artistic perfection of writing. Margaret Drabble, a contemporary British writer and literary critic, regarded "In Search of Joy" as Maugham's most brilliant work. Maugham changed the prejudice against women in his previous works and recalled the life of a beautiful woman as an admirer, embellished with many anecdotes from the literary and artistic circles. He draws materials from reality, blends fiction with fact, and uses the narrator Ashenden to narrate his early interactions with the famous writer Driffield and his ex-wife Rosie. This past event is the biographical subject that another popular novelist Keir wants to explore, and the story begins. Deep in Ashenden's memory, we find that the charming Rosie, although romantic and merciless by nature, is still kind, frank and lovely...

This book is based on the life of French post-Impressionist painter Gauguin. A broker of the British Stock Exchange who lived a stable life suddenly abandoned his wife and children and went to Paris to pursue his ideal of painting. In a foreign country, he not only suffered physically from poverty and hunger, but also endured mental pain in search of expression techniques. After some bizarre encounters, the protagonist finally leaves the civilized world and escapes to the isolated island of Tahiti, where he finds the tranquility of his soul and an atmosphere suitable for his artistic temperament. This book triggers people's thinking about breaking away from secular society and finding a spiritual home.

Maugham is one of the most proficient storytellers of the 20th century and is known as the "British Maupassant". His short stories have simple writing style, clear context, vivid characters and ups and downs of plots. This book selects 23 of Maugham's best short stories, presenting the customs and customs of the British overseas colonies a century ago, describing the various life styles in Britain and Europe, revealing the layers of fetters in love, marriage, and family, and coldly analyzing the willful hypocrisy, selfishness, and fragility. After this book was published by our publisher in 2016, it received favorable reviews. This reprint has corrected a few errors in text and style.