LUNCHEON- A REVIEW W S Maugham was young and naïve, and was living in Paris, some twenty years from the time of writing this striking short story with a twist of irony. His first literary works were just published. Like any young writer, he craved for admiration. And that's what he got when he received a fan mail from a lady, lavishly praising one of his just published works. He was elated and wrote …showed first 75 words of 1114 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1114 total…suggested to take only one item for luncheon, retorted back that he would eat nothing for dinner. It was a true statement. But the woman failed to understand it and called the author humorist. Maugham had his revenge at last-not by inflicting any punishment on her but by poetic justice. Meeting her twenty year later in the theatre, found her weighing twenty-one stone. He observed with complacency the way the immortal gods mete out justice.