The Water Drinkers

Henry Murger is best known for writing the book and play that Giacomo Puccini used as the basis of his delicious opera La Bohème, later the source of Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent. In this collection, Zack Rogow has translated and adapted Murger’s best fiction in one volume. The title piece is The Water Drinkers, Murger’s satirical look at a real-life group of artists and writers who strongly rejected commercialism. They were “Water Drinkers” because they shunned the luxury of wine. Set in the colorful, unheated garrets so familiar to fans of La Bohème; in the galleries of the Lou...

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Henry Murger is best known for writing the book and play that Giacomo Puccini used as the basis of his delicious opera La Bohème, later the source of Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent. In this collection, Zack Rogow has translated and adapted Murger’s best fiction in one volume. The title piece is The Water Drinkers, Murger’s satirical look at a real-life group of artists and writers who strongly rejected commercialism. They were “Water Drinkers” because they shunned the luxury of wine. Set in the colorful, unheated garrets so familiar to fans of La Bohème; in the galleries of the Louvre where young artists copied from the old masters; and in Paris’ fashionable quartiers, The Water Drinkers introduces us to a fascinating array of characters whose dilemmas resonate deeply with contemporary issues. Written with Murger’s sharp irony, The Water Drinkers is a little-known classic that has remained in print in France since its publication in 1854. Zack Rogow is the author, editor, or translator of more than twenty books or plays. His memoir Hugging My Father’s Ghost, about his writer dad, was released in 2024 by Spuyten Duyvil Publishing. Zack’s ninth book of poems, Irreverent Litanies, was published by Regal House. His play Colette Uncensored (coauthored with Lorri Holt) had its first public reading at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and has been staged in London, Catalonia, San Francisco, Indonesia, and Portland. His most recent book of translations is Bérénice 1934–44: An Actress in Occupied Paris, by Isabelle Stibbe. Zack is the editor of an anthology of poetry of the U.S.A., The Face of Poetry, from University of California Press. His song lyrics include “A Love for Just Part” sung by Carrie Wicks. He has taught in several MFA creative writing programs, and serves as a contributing editor of Catamaran Literary Reader. Zack has received the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize, the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award in Translation, the Celestine Award for Poetry from Holy Names University, and the Tanka Splendor Award.

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