Amazon.com description: Product Description: Honora de Balzac is considered the founder of social realism. Balzac was the first writer to write about the al social levels of the social scene in France. His vast collection of works encompasses the Restoration period and the July Monarchy. La Comedie Humaine was written between 1799 and 1850. This collection contains 95 novels, stories, and essays. The Muse of the Department (La Muse du département, 1843) can be found in Parisians in the Country (Les Parisiens en province) of the La Comedie Humaine.