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Article: Warts and all: the picture of a bestseller as snob and parasite

Article from:
The Independent (London, England)
Article date:
October 16, 2009
Author:
Copyright

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham By Selina Hastings JOHN MURRAY Pounds 25 (614pp) Pounds 22.50 (free p&p) from the Independent Bookshop: 08430 600 030

Some declines in literary reputation are steep; others still steeper. If William Somerset Maugham's 60-odd books are today far less read and even less often acclaimed than in his lifetime (1874- 1965), his advocates may take some comfort: the demolition job he did to the reputation of Hugh Walpole has proved terminal. Maugham's ink was frequently mixed with poison, as revealed in his fictional portrayal of the ingratiating, insincere popular novelist Walpole in Cakes and Ale (1930).

Today, Maugham's own standing is harder to calibrate. ...

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