Of Human Bondage

<b>Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of all time</b><br><br>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.<br>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;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 eventually pursuing a career as an artist in Paris. When he returns to London to study medicine he meets the androgynous but alluring Mildred and begins a doomed love affair that will change the course of his life. There is no more powerful story of sexual infatuation of human longing for connection and freedom.<br>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;Here is a novel of the utmost importance wrote Theodore Dreiser on publication. It is a beacon of light by which the wanderer may be guided. . . . One feels as though one were sitting before a splendid Shiraz of priceless texture and intricate weave admiring feeling responding sensually to its colors and tones.<br><br>With an Introduction by Gore Vidal<br><br>Commentary by Theodore Dreiser and Graham Greene