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The Belly of Paris

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The Belly of Paris

Written by: Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly - translator
Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
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About this listen

Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce.

Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family. Gradually, he takes up with the local socialists, who are more at home in bars than on the revolutionary streets. Slowly, the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor drags the city to the breaking point.

©1996 Translation by Sun & Moon Press (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics France City
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What the critics say

"[The novel’s] descriptions of cuisine…are notable for their length, detail, and humor." ( Washington Post)
"One of Zola’s own favorites, The Belly of Paris is a brilliant exposition of one man’s fragmentation and an often painful indictment of those who live innocent of infamy or praise." ( Publishers Weekly)

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Delightful look at 19th century Les Halles

The plot takes a back seat in this gloriously lavish description of the huge markets in Paris. I chose this book because it was on Anthony Bourdain’s must-read list and it was not at all what I expected. I could almost taste the cheeses and smell the flowers as Florent wanders around the market. Sadly, the conspiracy theories, mean-spiritedness and growing gap between rich and poor seem like modern themes. Emil Zola was a masterful writer and it’s nothing like anything I have every read before. It took a few chapters to become entranced but then I was hooked.

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