L'Assommoir: The Dram Shop [Anglais] [Poche]

Dans le Paris ouvrier du Second Empire, la tragédie d'une jeune femme qui sombre peu à peu dans l'alcoolisme...
" Le génie de Zola est de n'avoir jamais privilégié l'observation scientifique au détriment de l'invention poétique. ", Edmonde Charles-Roux. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Not realism, but filth; not crudity, but pornography, is how one contemporary critic described L'Assommoir. The seventh novel in Les Rougon-Macquart cycle, it is Zola's monumental natural and social history of a family under the Second Empire. The story of a good-hearted, but weak-willed and vulnerable laundress, L'Assommoir is widely regarded as Zola's masterpiece and was an immediate sensation, selling 50,000 copies within a year of its publication in 1877. This edition includes Zola's response to critics who denounced his work as immoral.

Written in gritty street language and unflinchingly portraying the darker side of French culture and society, L'Assommoir transcends Zola's stated intention to expose the powerful effects of heredity and environment on the human condition and, as Robin Buss writes in his Introduction, is marvelous, warm and human...with a tragic heroine who is among the most touching and credible creations in all the literature of the nineteenth century.

Founded in 1906 by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library has always tried to make the best books ever written available to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible price. Unique editorial features that help Everyman Paperback Classics stand out from the crowd include: a leading scholar or literary critic's introduction to the text, a biography of the author, a chronology of her or his life and times, a historical selection of criticism, and a concise plot summary. All books published since 1993 have also been completely restyled: all type has been reset, to offer a clarity and ease of reading unique among editions of the classics; a vibrant, full-color cover design now complements these great texts with beautiful contemporary works of art. But the best feature must be Everyman's uniquely low price. Each Everyman title offers these extensive materials at a price that competes with the most inexpensive editions on the market-but Everyman Paperbacks have durable binding, quality paper, and the highest editorial and scholarly standards. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Emile Zola (1840-1902), raised in a poor family in Aix-en-Provence, came to Paris as a young man and embarked on a career as a professional journalist and novelist.

Robin Buss is a translator and journalist.