An Italian journalist gets wrapped up in the criminality and cultural
controversies of modern Turin in this "very funny" satirical novel (The
New York Times).
It's October 2006. The northern Italian town of Turin has been rocked by
a series of murders involving Albanians and Romanians, and journalist
Enzo Laganà is determined to get to the bottom of the crime wave--even
if he must invent a few sources to do so. But first he's been
conscripted to mediate the issue of a pig running loose in a mosque.Gino
the pig belongs to Enzo's Nigerian immigrant neighbor, Joseph. The
Muslim community wants Gino killed, an animal rights group wants him
saved, and Joseph is pleading his pig's innocence. As Enzo navigates
various calamities large and small, he scrambles to keep track of his
lies even as he uncovers some uncomfortable truths about contemporary,
multicultural Italy.
"This very funny novel examines a town's heightened ignorance and
hostility toward foreigners, and what it means to be a "true" Italian,
even if the native in question is a small pig."--The New York Times