Overview

'Written with clarity and wit; at once erudite and entertaining ... Bellos restores Les Mis to its maker and his times' Economist The Novel of the Century brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d'etat and political exile; how he pulled off the deal of the century to get it published, and set it on course to become the novel that epitomizes the grand sweep of history in the nineteenth century. Placing a century of scholarship into narrative form and packed full of information about the background and design of Les Miserables, this biography of a masterpiece nonetheless insists that the moral and social message of Hugo's ever-popular novel is just as important for our century as it was for its own.

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Praise for Georges Simenon: One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories. --The Guardian These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself. --The Washington Post Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals. --People I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov. --William Faulkner The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature. --Andr Gide A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness. --The Independent (London) Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales. --The Observer (London) Compelling, remorseless, brilliant. --John Gray A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable--lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates. --Muriel Spark A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it. --Peter Ackroyd Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century. --John Banville

A gripping tale about Victor Hugo's masterpiece * Paris Review *

Praise for Georges Simenon One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories. --The Guardian These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself. --The Washington Post Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals. --People I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov. --William Faulkner The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature. --Andr Gide A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness. --The Independent (London) Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales. --The Observer (London) Compelling, remorseless, brilliant. --John Gray A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable--lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates. --Muriel Spark A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it. --Peter Ackroyd Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century. --John Banville

Author Information

David Bellos is Meredith Howland Pyne Professor of French Literature at Princeton University, where he also teaches Comparative Literature. He is the author of many books and articles on nineteenth-century fiction, alongside biographies of three icons of French culture in the twentieth century- Georges Perec, Jacques Tati and Romain Gary. He is also a well-known translator and the author of Is That a Fish in Your Ear? The Amazing Adventure of Translation. David Bellos was recently awarded the rank of officier in the Ordre National des Arts et des Lettres for his services to French culture.

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