"This is the first English translation of Le Ventre de Paris for fifty years. The third in Zola's great cycle of twenty novels, Les Rougon-Macquart , it is just as enthralling as Germinal , Thirhse Raquin and other novels in the series, and its focus on food, eating disorders, consumerism, and the city makes it especially topical. The focus of the novel on the great Paris food hall, Les Halles, and Zola's famous Impressionist descriptions of food make this a particularly compelling novel. Brian Nelson's lively translation captures the spirit of Zola's world in the same way as his popular translation of Au Bonheur des Dames (The Ladies' Paradise ). The Introduction explores the use of food in the novel to represent social class, social attitudes, political conflicts and other aspect of the culture of the times, as well as the problematical relationship between art and modern life.