That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (May 2021) |
 First edition (Italian) | |
| Author | Carlo Emilio Gadda |
|---|---|
| Original title | 'Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana' |
| Translator | William Weaver |
| Language | Italian |
| Genre | Crime fiction |
| Publisher | Garzanti Editore s.p.a. |
Publication date | 1957 |
| Publication place | Italy |
Published in English | 1965 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 400 (NYRB edition) |
| ISBN | 1590172221 |
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.
Plot summary
[edit]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.[1]
Reception
[edit]That Awful Mess on Via Merulana was well received in Italian literary circles.
References
[edit]- ^ "That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana". New York Review Books. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-05-25.
 | This article about a crime novel of the 1950s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |