Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time
"It is very difficult for a writer of my generation, if he is honest, to pretend
indifference to the work of Somerset Maugham," wrote Gore Vidal. "He was always
so entirely there."
Originally published in 1915, Of Human Bondage is a potent expression of the
power of sexual obsession and of modern man's yearning for freedom. This classic
bildungsroman tells the story of Philip Carey, a sensitive boy born with a
clubfoot who is orphaned and raised by a religious aunt and uncle. Philip yearns
for adventure, and at eighteen leaves home,