Banned in England in 1888 for its so-called obscenity, Nana has since come to be regarded the highest achievement among all the novels of the school of naturalist writers. Its author is generally acknowledged as the originator from whom the English realists and our own Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser and many later American novelists have derived their greatest influence. Regardless of the sensational attention paid this novel and apart from its unique place in literary history, Nana lives as a work of fiction by its own vigor and the incomparable skill and fidelity with which it is written and with which it reflects actual life.