Straszny rok

Raised in a poor Provençal family, Alphonse Daudet moved to Paris in his early adulthood, writing love poems and journalistic pieces before his choice topic became the characters and locales of his childhood. Provence dominated his autobiographical Le Petit chose (The Little Good-for-Nothing), but he also became known for such varied novels as Jack, about a child-laborer, and L'Immortel. Daudet helped introduce Zola's naturalism to French theatre with production of the former's tale L'Arlésienne.