Four Short Stories

By W. Somerset Maugham, Henri Matisse (illustrator),

Book cover of Four Short Stories: A Great Storyteller at His Best

Book description

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Why read it?

1 author picked Four Short Stories as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Any Maugham story has to be great. This collection is no exception. Usually a character in his own stories, Maugham will play the part of reader’s confidant, recounting a story about a friend of his, or a friend of a friend, as it were second-hand. I particularly like how he handles the theme of money in this collection (unlike Balzac, who introduces money with a truncheon): no big deal; but such a bother. Each story seems a trifling anecdote, distanced, cursory ̶ until the perfect note of pathos slips in. And Matisse’s simple line drawings complement Maugham’s prose nicely.

From Theodore's list on short story novel collections.

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