Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a piazza Vittorio

A small culturally mixed community living in an apartment building in the center of Rome is thrown into disarray when one of the neighbours is murdered. An investigation ensues and as each of the victim’s neighbours  is questioned, the reader is offered an all-access pass into the most colorful neighbourhood in contemporary Rome. Each character takes their turn center-stage, “giving evidence,” recounting their story—the dramas of emigration, the daily equivocations of immigration, the fears and misunderstandings of a life spent on society’s margins, abused by mainstream culture’s fears and indifference, preconceptions and insensitivity.

What emerges is a touching story that is common to us all, whether we live in Rome or in Los Angeles. This novel is animated by a style that is as colourful as the neighbourhood it describes and achieves seemingly effortless equipoise that borrows from the cinematic tradition of the Commedia Italiana, as exemplified by directors such as Federico Fellini and Mario Monicelli.

“The author’s real subject is the heave and crush of modern, polyglot Rome, and he renders the jabs of everyday speech with such precision that the novel feels exclaimed rather than written.” —The New Yorker

“Intriguing psychological and social insight alongside a playful whodunit plot, exposing the power of fear, racial prejudice and cultural misconception to rob a neighborhood of its humanity.” —Publishers Weekly

“The rich variety of characters and psychological understanding place Mr. Lakhous in the tradition of Balzac and Dickens.” —The Washington Times

“An Italian noir-comedy-satire, written by an Algerian, that effectively breaks rules and has a good time doing it.” —Shelf Awareness

“The murder in Amara Lakhous’ wonderfully offbeat novel [. . .] is just an excuse to let Algiers-born Lakhous portray a vibrant, multiethnic neighborhood through the voices of characters being interviewed about the death.” —Seattle Times