The Assommoir - Paperback

Émile Zola was born in 1840 and worked as a journalist before turning to fiction. He wrote his first major novel, Thérèse Raquin, in 1867, and the publication of L'Assommoir ten years later made him the most famous writer in France. His work has influenced authors from August Strindberg to Theodore Dreiser to Tom Wolfe. He died in 1902.

Brian Nelson is an Emeritus Professor at Monash University, Melbourne, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. His publications include Zola: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press), The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature, The Cambridge Companion to Zola, Zola and the Bourgeoisie, and translations for Oxford World's Classics of Zola's The Assommoir, His Excellency Eug鈩e Rougon, Earth (with Julie Rose), The Fortune of the Rougons, The Belly of Paris, The Kill, Pot Luck and The Ladies' Paradise. He has also translated Swann in Love by Marcel Proust for the Oxford World's Classics series. He was awarded the New South Wales Premier's Prize for Translation in 2015.