The Magician

by W. Somerset Maugham, Robert Calder (Introduction)

Overview

The Magician is an early W. Somerset Maugham novel, originally published in 1908. In this tale, the magician Oliver Haddo, a caricature of Aleister Crowley, attempts to create life. Crowley wrote a critique of this book under the pen name Oliver Haddo, where he accused Maugham of plagiarism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143104896
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/27/2007
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	427,589
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.44(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William Somerset Maugham CH (25 January 1874 - 16 December 1965), better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s.

After both his parents died before he was 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. Not wanting to become a lawyer like other men in his family, Maugham eventually trained and qualified as a physician. The initial run of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), sold out so rapidly that Maugham gave up medicine to write full-time.

Editorial Reviews

"Maugham tells his tale of the weird and the horrible with simple sincerity and a constant matching of the unhallowed practices with the clean, sweet things of common life that make its effect uncommonly impressive." —The New York Times

From the Publisher