《月亮與六便士》以法國印象派畫家保羅·高更的生平為素材，描述了一個原本平凡的倫敦證券經紀人思特里克蘭德，突然著了藝術的魔，拋妻棄子，絕棄了旁人看來優裕美滿的生活，奔赴南太平洋的塔希提島，用圓筆譜寫出自己光輝燦爛的生命，把生命的價值全部注入絢爛畫布的故事。作品表現了天才、個性與物質文明以及現代婚姻、家庭生活之間的矛盾，有著廣闊的生命視角，用散發著消毒水味道的手術刀對皮囊包裹下的人性進行了犀利地解剖，混合著看客訕笑的幽默和殘忍的目光。
“鯨歌英文原版”系列圖書第一輯，精選國內讀者耳熟能詳十本名著：《呼嘯山莊》《月亮與六便士》《簡·愛》《老人與�！贰�1984》《美麗新世界》《人性的弱點》《假如給我三天光明》《動物莊園》《飄》，以國外出版社版本為參照，原版復制，精心編排，力求原汁原味還原外版圖書的風貌。這十本書文筆優美，閱讀難度不高，非常適合有一定外語閱讀能力的讀者首次入門接觸外國小說。
當人到中年的你擁有了平凡人的小幸福，卻突然在某一天遭遇了使你心靈震撼的陌生事物，你愿意拋棄穩定平和的生活投身于全新的藝術世界中嗎？小說主人公便是這樣一個“沖動”之人。從“普通”到“天才”的距離，或許只能用堅定不移地相信和努力去填補。
20世紀受讀者歡迎的作家，英文現實主義巨匠毛姆的代表性長篇名作。原汁原味，原版引進。
威廉·薩默塞特·毛姆，英國現代小說家、劇作家。毛姆被稱為英國的莫泊桑。他一生著作甚多，除詩歌以外的各個文學領域，都有所涉及，有所建樹。他的作品，特別是他的長、短篇小說，文筆質樸，脈絡清晰，人物性格鮮明，情節跌宕有致，在各個階層中都擁有相當數量的讀者群。
I did not know why Strickland had suddenly offered to show them to me. I welcomed the opportunity. A man’s work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, and you can only gain a true knowledge of him by inferences from little actions, of which he is unconscious, and from fleeting expressions, which cross his face unknown to him. Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem. But in his book or his picture the real man delivers himself defenceless. His pretentiousness will only expose his vacuity. The lath painted to look like iron is seen to be but a lath. No affectation of peculiarity can conceal a commonplace mind. To the acute observer no one can produce the most casual work without disclosing the innermost secrets of his soul.
As I walked up the endless stairs of the house in which Strickland lived, I confess that I was a little excited. It seemed to me that I was on the threshold of a surprising adventure. I looked about the room with curiosity. It was even smaller and more bare than I remembered it. I wondered what those friends of mine would say who demanded vast studios, and vowed they could not work unless all the conditions were to their liking.
‘You’d better stand there’, he said, pointing to a spot from which, presumably, he fancied I could see to best advantage what he had to show me.
‘You don’t want me to talk, I suppose’, I said.
‘No, blast you;I want you to hold your tongue. ’
……
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