Il ventre di Parigi

Zola leaves us with a timeless description of Les Halles as it was before the current 20y construction mess that it has become. For several centuries, this area in the center of Paris was a thriving marketplace for all Parisians and this novel was a magnificent tribute to the various people that mad Leggi tutto

A gastronomic extravaganza for all carnivorous turophiles, the third novel in the Rougon-Macquart series is an impeccably translated parleyvous into the prickly purlieus of mid-1800s Paree, starring more big-bosomed bitchy fishwives than a Shetlandic wharf. The naive Florent is our luckless hero, pl Leggi tutto

I hadn’t read Zola in years (“Thérèse Raquin” was forced on me in college and it left a bitter taste in my mouth – despite the fact that I barely remember anything about it now), but last year, I binged-read everything Anthony Bourdain wrote, and he mentions “The Belly of Paris” over and over again Leggi tutto

«Via, andiamo! Ma scherzi? Siamo gente onesta noi!» Parigi- 1858/1859 Florent, evaso dal bagno penale della Cayenna, torna a Parigi. Senza forze dopo un estenuante viaggio e un prolungato digiuno fa il suo rientro sul carro di una gentile contadina che porta i suoi prodotti a Les Halles , il mercat Leggi tutto