Pere Goriot - Thrift Edition Author:Honore de Balzac A kind-hearted and idealistic youth enters the grasping Parisian society of the 1820s, where his education in the realities and costs of city life begin among the residents of a shabby but respectable boardinghouse. Acclaimed by Leslie Stephen as "the modern King Lear," it offers a timeless view of the tragedies behind the prosaic detail... more »s of everyday life.« less