That Awful Mess on Via Merulana

That Awful Mess on Via Merulana is an Italian novel by Carlo Emilio Gadda, first published in Italy by Garzanti Editore s.p.a. in 1957. An English translation by William Weaver was published in 1965.

That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
AuthorCarlo Emilio Gadda
Original title'Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana'
TranslatorWilliam Weaver
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian
PublisherGarzanti Editore s.p.a.
Publication date
1957
Published in English
1965
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages400 (NYRB edition)
ISBN1590172221

Plot summary

In fascist Italy in 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.

Reception

That Awful Mess on Via Merulana was well received in Italian literary circles.

gollark: We can do that and unbaptize you too.
gollark: Good idea, do that once the known death records are exhausted.
gollark: Iterate through all names in death records or whatever, then procedurally generate plausible names of past people.
gollark: Idea: automated posthumous baptization.
gollark: Heaven access works that way? *Interesting*.
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