In Balzac's extensive work, The Human Comedy, which includes ninety-one completed novellas and stories, he attempted to create a comprehensive depiction of contemporary French society and its customs. Within this work, there is a loving ode to Paris and an unparalleled introduction to the first capital of the modern world. In this colorful city, he expresses his love through an accumulation of carefully observed details - the cafes, the landmarks, the avenues, the parks - and portrays the population with a plethora of methodically designed portraits: lawyers, street girls, journalists, concierges, moneylenders, suppliers, speculators.

Balzac gathered the elements of this Paris by walking through its streets. "Wandering is a science," he writes, "it is the gastronomy of the eye. To go for a walk is to harm your existence; to wander is to live." Eric Hazan follows in Balzac's footsteps, traversing the city with the novelist's big shoes, running between printers, publishers, café owners, mistresses, and friends, stopping for a moment, impressed by a detail that will be imprinted on Balzac's photographic memory.

More than a tour of the city, Balzac's Paris is an attempt to measure the soul of a city as it is revealed in its most refined literature.

Pages: 208 | Year of Publication: 1001 | Dimensions: 14x14cm