Down and Out in Paris and London

"It is curious how people take it for granted that they have a right to preach at you and pray over you as soon as your income falls below a certain level." "If you set yourself to it, you can live the same life, rich or poor. You can keep on with your books and your ideas. You just got to say to yourself, "I'm a free man in here" – he tapped his forehead – "and you're all right." "The stars are a free show; it don't cost anything to use your eyes." ? George Orwell, Down and Out in Paris and London Down and Out in Paris and London is the first full-length work by the English author George Orwell, published in 1933. It is a memoir in two parts on the theme of poverty in the two cities, which was written deliberately in a non-academic tone. Its target audience was the middle and upper class members of society-those who were more likely to be well educated-and exposes the poverty existing in two prosperous cities: Paris and London. The first part is an account of living in near-destitution in Paris and the experience of casual labour in restaurant kitchens. The second part is a travelogue of life on the road in and around London from the tramp's perspective..