That Awful Mess on Via Merulana

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That Awful Mess on Via Merulana
Author Carlo Emilio Gadda
Original title 'Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana'
Translator William Weaver
Country Italy
Language Italian
Publisher Garzanti Editore s.p.a.
Publication date
1957
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

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 and was praised by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Alberto Moravia, and Italo Calvino.