FOUR SHORT STORIES - Somerset Maugham

I wanted to read something by Maugham, and I found this small volume ( only 67 pages long) at the library, and I read the whole thing in an hour.  This particular volume was a Hallmark publication, and the drawings in it are by Henri Matisse!

1. The Ant and the Caterpillar - a version of the Aesop fable, where a businessman, George Ramsay, has a ne'er-do-well brother who is constantly asking his brother for money.  Sure enough, it's the ne'er-do-well who finds a rich widow.

2.The Verger - is fired by the church's new vicar because he can't read.  He then starts a tobacco store which grows into a successful enterprise.

3.Mr. Know-All is a passenger on a ship who annoys everyone because he is an authority on every subject.  When the subject turns to pearls, he makes an error on purpose.

4. The Colonel's Lady - A colourless wife of a cheating husband publishes a book of poems that portrays a passionate affair, much to the consternation of her husband, who can't figure out what anyone could see in her to begin with!

I enjoyed these.  Must find some more.  These are the kinds of short stories I enjoy.  The best volume of short stories I think I ever read was I, Richard, by Elizabeth George.