Most famous for his twenty-volume dissection of nineteenth-century French mores and society, the Rougon-Macquart novels, Zola was also an extremely accomplished short-story writer, as exemplified by the tales included in this volume.Concerned with the manifold aspects of everyday life and varying in their settings - from aristocratic drawing rooms to poverty-stricken garrets, from the hustle and bustle of Paris to the Provençal countryside of the author's childhood - these stories will keep the reader riveted from the beginning to the end and surprise for their modernity.Contains:The Attack on the MillThe Girl Who Loves MeRentafoilDeath by AdvertisingStory of a MadmanBig MichuThe Way People DieA Flash in the PanAbsence Makes the Heart Grow FonderPriests and SinnersFair ExchangeThe Haunted House