CLUB FEET, SUICIDES AND SEDUCTION...AH LITERATURE!

OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maughm
I had initially planned on hitting you guys with a book that none of you would've guessed as being one of my reading recommendations. Although, I plan on keeping things interesting like that, my plans were sidetracked when I walked into a colleague's office to find a mass market edition of Maughm's maserpiece OF HUMAN BONDAGE, sitting on his desk. He told me to take it after I'd "oooh'd" and "aaah'd" over the book for a good five minutes. I still have my Penguin's classics' edition from NYU, but am not a fan of the sea foam green color of the package. In any case, I took this experience to be a sign and now OF HUMAN BONDAGE is my first reading recommendation.
Maughm's finely crafted Bildungsroman (a coming of age novel or "a novel of formation") follows club footed orphan Philip Carey, who ekes out a miserable childhood with his aunt and uncle. His handicap makes him a target of humiliation by classmates at school, where he manages to excel (WHAT A NERD!). A quest for the meaning in life takes him to Germany, Paris and London. Along the way, he encounters a large cast of characters who help him develop emotionally and intellectually. Who could ever forget miserable art student Fanny Price whom Philip meets in Paris? Living in poverty, she's devoted her life to her art, and no one has the heart to tell her that, well, she sucks. When someone does, poor, poor Fanny Price hangs herself. Or the wanton, older temptress Miss Wilkinson who seduces Philip.
Trust me, this book, though long is BRILLIANT. I could write more but it's 1AM and I have to wake up at 5AM so I gotta go.