The immigrant tenants of a building in Rome offer skewed accounts of a
murder in this prize-winning satire by the Algerian-born Italian author
(Publishers Weekly).
Piazza Vittorio is home to a polyglot community of immigrants who have
come to Rome from all over the world. But when a tenant is murdered in
the building's elevator, the delicate balance is thrown into disarray.
As each of the victim's neighbors is questioned by the police, readers
are offered an all-access pass into the most colorful neighborhood in
contemporary Rome.
With language as colorful as the neighborhood it describes, each
character takes his or her turn "giving evidence." Their various stories
reveal much about the drama of racial identity and the anxieties of a
life spent on society's margins, but also bring to life the hilarious
imbroglios of this melting pot Italian culture.
"Their frequently wild testimony teases out intriguing psychological and
social insight alongside a playful whodunit plot."--Publishers Weekly