Nana (Dover Thrift Editions) - Softcover

French realism's most beguiling femme fatale, Nana crawled from the gutter to ascend the heights of Parisian society, devouring men and squandering fortunes along the way. Her corruption reflects the degenerate state of the Second Empire and her story ― a classic of French literature ― is among the first modern novels.

?mile Zola was a French writer who is recognized as an exemplar of literary naturalism and for his contributions to the development of theatrical naturalism. Zola s best-known literary works include the twenty-volume Les Rougon-Macquart, an epic work that examined the influences of violence, alcohol and prostitution on French society through the experiences of two families, the Rougons and the Macquarts. Other remarkable works by Zola include Contes ? Ninon, Les Myst?res de Marseille, and Th?r?se Raquin.

In addition to his literary contributions, Zola played a key role in the Dreyfus Affair of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. His newspaper article J Accuse accused the highest levels of the French military and government of obstruction of justice and anti-semitism, for which he was convicted of libel in 1898. After a brief period of exile in England, Zola returned to France where he died in 1902. ?mile Zola is buried in the Panth?on alongside other esteemed literary figures Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas.

Burton Rascoe (1892–1957) worked as an editor and critic for numerous newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago Tribune, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and Newsweek, and was the author of nine books. Glenda Riley is Alexander M. Bracken Professor Emerita of History at Ball State University. She is the author of Women and Nature: Saving the “Wild” West (Nebraska 1999) and Taking Land, Breaking Land: Women Colonizing the American West and Kenya, 1840–1940.