WRITER'S NOTEBOOK, A(ISBN=9780307473196)

　　"Maugham is a great artist.... A genius." —Theodore Dreiser
 
　　"An expert craftsman . . . His style is sharp, quick, subdued, casual." —New York Times
 
　　"[Maugham] has given infinite pleasure and left us a splendor of writing which will remain for as long as the written English word is permitted to exist." —Daily Telegraph
 
　　"The modern writer who has influenced me most is Somerset Maugham"--George Orwell
　　"Maugham remains the consummate craftsman . . . [Hid prose is] so compact, so economical, so closely motivated, so skillfully written that it rivets from first to last." —Saturday Review of Literature 
 
　　"It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham. . . . He was always so entirely there." —Gore Vidal

　　W. Somerset Maugham was one of the twentieth century's most popular novelists, as well as a celebrated playwright, critic, and short story writer. He was born in Paris but grew up in England and served as secret agent for the British during World War I. He wrote many novels, including the classics Of Human Bondage, The Razor's Edge, Cakes and Ale, Christmas Holiday, Moon and Sixpence, Theatre, and Up at the Villa.