Somerset Maugham is one of the most prolific and popular writers of the 20th century, and this sizeable 1954 anthology offers a broad sampling of his work. Mr. Maugham Himself includes the following: one novel -- Of Human Bondage, two short stories ("Mr. Harrington's Washing" and "The Book-Bag"), three essays ("The Summing Up," "El Greco" from Don Fernando, and "Some Novelists I Have Known" from The Vagrant Mood) and a short extract from A Writer's Notebook. Although most of these works have been published in multiple venues over the years, this collection may introduce readers to the astonishing scope and depth of Maugham's writings, offering hours of enjoyment and contemplation. On these grounds, and given the excellence of the works chosen for inclusion, I am compelled to give this book a high rating. No work that includes Mr. Maugham's masterpiece Of Human Bondage as well as his magnificent essay "The Summing Up" can deserve less! What's more, not a single choice in this collection isn't worth reading and enjoying multiple times.

The foregoing represents my review and recommendation of this anthology. What follows is a commentary that may be of interest to readers familiar with Somerset Maugham's work and who may share my puzzlement as to why Doubleday & Co. chose to publish this collection in 1954. Two-thirds of the book (447 pages) consists of the novel Of Human Bondage, which was (and is) widely available elsewhere. Most of the rest (another 140 pages) consists of "The Summing Up" and "El Greco", works that duplicate choices in the compilation The Maugham Reader, published by Doubleday a mere four years earlier. That leaves only two short stories and two brief essays that had not recently been republished, and whether these are among Maugham's very best work is an arguable question.

John Beecroft edited this volume, and his introduction offers a rationale for his selections that is not entirely credible or coherent. He states that he was originally interested in publishing an anthology of Maugham's best work but that since such would have to include at least two novels, a play, some short stories, and perhaps some other pieces, that such a work would be too large to publish. In point of fact, such an anthology is precisely what Doubleday had published in 1950 as The Maugham Reader (Beecroft acknowledges this nearly as an afterthought, and one wonders if he'd been aware of the former volume when he made his proposal to Doubleday). By Mr. Beecroft's account, he then decided on an anthology that would be a sort of "composite autobiography", to represent Maugham "in the way he has revealed his personality and his life through his writings." He notes that on these grounds Of Human Bondage and The Summing Up had to be included, and no one can argue with this assessment. However, he fails to account for the other chosen pieces, none of which is notably autobiographical, however much they may reveal of Maugham's talent. The anthology therefore is duplicative of what came before, and if the goal had been to offer a "composite autobiography", far better choices could have been made. How can an anthology with such a goal fail to include any of Maugham's travel writiings?

No matter. If the present anthology brought Maugham's writings to a new crop of readers or furthered the enjoyment of those who already knew something of his work, then it served a beneficial purpose. In fact, Mr Maugham Himself may still be doing so.

One final note that may be of interest. The version of "The Summing Up" included herein contains a 4 page postscript that Maugham wrote nearly 20 years later, upon its publication in the 1954 The Partial View. (I thank LT member Waldstein for providing this and other relevant information). ( )