Scenes of Bohemian Life (1851) is a novel by Henri Murger. Written at the beginning of his career as a popular French poet and novelist, Scenes of Bohemian Life is composed of vignettes inspired by the author's experience as a starving artist in Paris' Latin Quarter. Adapted countless times for theater and film, Murger's novel served as inspiration for Puccini's opera La boheme (1896) and for the hit musical Rent (1996). "The Bohemians know everything and go everywhere, according as they have patent leather pumps or burst boots. They are to be met one day leaning against the mantel-shelf in a fashionable drawing room, and the next seated in the arbor of some suburban dancing place. They cannot take ten steps on the Boulevard without meeting a friend, and thirty, no matter where, without encountering a creditor." Distinguished by their sense of fashion and impoverished lifestyle, Paris' Bohemians are part of a historical avant-garde, a cultural phenomenon found in any artistic society. Living day to day, these artists and radicals commune with the world as it is, taking nothing and no one for granted. In Scenes of Bohemian Life, four friends-Rodolphe, Marcel, Colline, and Schaunard-avoid landlords and old lovers on the streets of the Latin Quarter, a district known for its countercultural figures. Hilarious and preeminently human, Scenes of Bohemian Life is a masterpiece of nineteenth century fiction from a writer whose lifestyle informed much of his work. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henri Burger's Scenes of Bohemian Life is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

Scenes of Bohemian Life (1851) is a novel by Henri Murger. Written at the beginning of his career as a popular French poet and novelist, Scenes of Bohemian Life is composed of vignettes inspired by the author's experience as a starving artist in Paris' Latin Quarter. Adapted countless times for theater and film, Murger's novel served as inspiration for Puccini's opera La boheme (1896) and for the hit musical Rent (1996). "The Bohemians know everything and go everywhere, according as they have patent leather pumps or burst boots. They are to be met one day leaning against the mantel-shelf in a fashionable drawing room, and the next seated in the arbor of some suburban dancing place. They cannot take ten steps on the Boulevard without meeting a friend, and thirty, no matter where, without encountering a creditor." Distinguished by their sense of fashion and impoverished lifestyle, Paris' Bohemians are part of a historical avant-garde, a cultural phenomenon found in any artistic society. Living day to day, these artists and radicals commune with the world as it is, taking nothing and no one for granted. In Scenes of Bohemian Life, four friends-Rodolphe, Marcel, Colline, and Schaunard-avoid landlords and old lovers on the streets of the Latin Quarter, a district known for its countercultural figures. Hilarious and preeminently human, Scenes of Bohemian Life is a masterpiece of nineteenth century fiction from a writer whose lifestyle informed much of his work. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Henri Burger's Scenes of Bohemian Life is a classic of French literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter Henri Murger. Translated by Ellen Marriage and John Selwyn. Introduction by Maurice Samuels "Today, as of old, every man who enters on an artistic career, without any other means of livelihood than his art itself, will be forced to walk in the paths of Bohemia."--from the Preface Based largely upon Henri Murger's own experiences and those of his fellow artists, "The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter" was originally produced as a play in 1849 and first appeared in book form in 1851. It was an immediate sensation. The novel consists of a series of interrelated episodes in the lives of a group of poor friends--a musician, a poet, a philosopher, a sculptor, and a painter--who attempt to maintain their artistic ideals while struggling for food, shelter, and sex. Set in the ancient Latin Quarter, a vibrant and cosmopolitan area near the University of Paris, the novel is a masterful portrait of nineteenth-century Parisian artistic life. "Bohemian" soon became synonymous with "artist," and it is from Murger's novel that the word and concept entered the English language. Drawn from real-life characters and events, the themes of love, sacrifice, and "selling out" are immediately recognizable to the modern reader. Capturing the heart, spirit, and bittersweet humor of the world of struggling artists, "The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter" is the universal story of one's attempt to leave a mark on the world. Henri Murger (1822-1861) wrote for magazines and newspapers and authored several books of fiction but is remembered today only for this novel of artistic life in nineteenth-century Paris. 2004 432 pages 4 1/4 x 6 3/4 ISBN 978-0-8122-1884-8 Paper $29.95s 19.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0095-9 Ebook $29.95s 19.50 World Rights Fiction, Literature, Cultural Studies Short copy: Known chiefly as the basis for Puccini's great opera "La Boheme," and resurrected more recently as the musical "Rent," "The Bohemians of the Latin Quarter" is one of the most culturally influential French novels of the nineteenth century.