The Moon and Sixpence Introduction

by W. Somerset Maugham

Based on the life of Paul Gauguin, "The Moon and Sixpence" is the story of Charles Strickland, an English banker who walks away from a life of privilege to pursue his passion to become a painter. Strickland leaves London for Paris and ultimately Tahiti. "The Moon and Sixpence" is the story of the demands that can be placed on a tortured artistic soul and the lives that it touches.