The Summing Up (Penguin 20th Century Classic)

THE SUMMING UP is rare among literary autobiographies for its scope and honesty. While Maugham analyzes his work in drama and fiction, this is far more than a list of publishing triumphs. He sorts 40 years of experience and gives us the distillation of his ethic and philosophy. Like many other successful authors Maugham started as a physician, but writing called him early. At 23, based on his experiences in a slum hospital, he wrote LIZA OF LAMBETH, an immediate success, and thereafter left to others the care of vermiform appendices. -- Amazon.com.