That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
 Cover of the first (Italian) edition | |
| Author | Carlo Emilio Gadda |
|---|---|
| Original title | Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana |
| Translator | William Weaver |
| Language | Italian English (translation) |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Garzanti (Italy) George Braziller (US) |
| Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | Italy New York City, New York (US) |
Published in English | 1965 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 388 (US) |
| OCLC | 1154929569 |
That Awful Mess on Via Merulana (Romanesco: Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana) is an Italian novel by Carlo Emilio Gadda, first published in Italy by Garzanti in 1957. An English translation by William Weaver was published in 1965.[1]
Plot summary
Rome, Fascist Italy, 1927. Detective Francesco Ingravallo, known to friends as Don Ciccio, is called in to investigate the murder of Liliana Balducci, a well-to-do woman who happens to be a close friend. As Don Ciccio and his colleagues dig deeper into the grisly murder, the mechanics of the detective novel take a backseat to the wordplay and experimentation with which Gadda presents a panorama of life in early fascist Rome.[2]
Reception
That Awful Mess on Via Merulana was well received in Italian literary circles.
References
- ↑ Carlo Emilio Gadda (1965). That Awful Mess on Via Merulana: A Novel: Translated from the Italian and with an Introduction by William Weaver. Translated by William Weaver (1st American ed.). New York, N.Y.: George Braziller. OCLC 1154929569.
- ↑ "That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana". New York Review Books. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-05-25.