Been doing lots of reading lately. Just finished Emile Zola's THE BELLY OF PARIS

This is an extremely colorful cover for a classic. Maybe they were trying to reach the kind of audience that likes historical fiction? This book actually _is_ historical fiction, since it's set in 1859 and was written in 1873 (after the fall of the Second Empire)

I absolutely adore Emile Zola. When you praise a 19th century author, it's the fashion to s…