Sylvestre Gazonal, a manufacturer from the Pyrenees, comes to Paris over a lawsuit, and his cousin, the landscape painter Léon de Lora, sets out with the caricaturist Bixiou to show him the city as it really is. Moneylenders, actresses, fashion dealers, politicians and gamblers parade past in a day that teaches Gazonal more than he wanted to know.
A quick, sparkling late work from The Human Comedy, perfect for a first taste of Balzac. Download the free EPUB.