humorous atmosphere of every situation.

About wrote stories so easily and well that his early desertion of
fiction is surprising. His mocking spirit has often suggested comparison
with Voltaire, whom he studied and admired. He too is a skeptic and an
idol-breaker; but his is a kindlier irony, a less incisive philosophy.
Perhaps, however, this influence led to lack of faith in his own work,
to his loss of an ideal, which Zola thinks the real secret of his
sudden change from novelist to journalist. Voltaire taught him to scoff
and disbelieve, to demand "à quoi bon?" and that took the heart out of
him. He was rather fond of exposing abuses, a habit that appears in
those witty letters to the Gaulois which in 1878 obliged him to suspend
that journal. His was a positive mind, interested in political affairs,
and with something always ready to say upon them. In 1872 he founded a
radical newspaper, Le XIXme Siècle (The Nineteenth Century), in
association with another aggressive spirit, that of Francisque Sarcey.
For many years he proved his ability as editor, business man, and
keen polemist.

He tried drama, too, inevitable ambition of young French authors; but
after the failure of 'Guillery' at the Théâtre Française and 'Gaétena'
at the Odéon, renounced the theatre. Indeed, his power is in odd
conceptions, in the covert laugh and humorous suggestion of the
phrasing, rather than in plot or characterization. He will always be
best known for the tales and novels in that thoroughly French
style--clear, concise, and witty--which in 1878 elected him president of
the Société des Gens de Lettres, and in 1884 won him a seat in
the Academy.

About wrote a number of novels, most of them as well known in