Amara Lakhous

After the body of a tenant is discovered in the elevator of an apartment building in Rome, the police gather widely different accounts of what may have led to the crime from each of the other tenants.

Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

Clash of civilizations over an elevator in Piazza Vittorio

طير الليل

Divorzio all'islamica a viale Marconi

A journalist in Turin tries to get to the bottom of a recent, deadly crime wave perpetrated by Albanians and Romanians while he settles a dispute with a Nigerian neighbor involving a pig being brought into a mosque. Original. 40,000 first printing.

Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet

Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio

A fun and farcical novel, this new “whodunit” about life in multicultural Italy is a Pirandellian exploration of identity in today’s changing, polyglot societies. Once again, the protagonist of this new novel is the crime beat journalist, Enzo Laganà. He and his Finnish fiancée, Tania, are about to leave on holidays when Enzo receives news of an emergency: a fifteen-year-old girl has accused two Rom men of having raped her. Revenge is swift: a Rom camp near the Valentino Park is burned to the ground; a child and a woman are injured. It’s up to Enzo to clarify matters. Precisely who is seeking revenge, and for what? Was the girl really raped by two men or is the whole story a prank? And who is the mysterious woman injured in the flames? Bittersweet, like any self-respecting Italian comedy, The Prank draws inspiration from everyday reality. Lakhous describes his approach to writing as “total literature,” a term he has adapted from soccer’s “total football.” He plays in attack, describing in this work the realities of an Italy of the future with colorful characters portrayed in limpid but lively prose.

The Prank of the Good Little Virgin of Via Ormea

It’s October 2006. In a few months, Romania will join the European Union. Meanwhile, the northern Italian town of Turin has been rocked by a series of crimes involving Albanians and Romanians. Is this the latest eruption of a clan feud dating back centuries, or is the trouble being incited by local organized crime syndicates who routinely “infect” neighborhoods and then “cleanse” them in order to earn big on property developments? Enzo Laganà, born in Turin to Southern Italian parents, is a journalist with a wry sense of humor who is determined to get to the bottom of this crime wave. But before he can do so, he has to settle a thorny issue concerning Gino, a small pig belonging to his Nigerian neighbor, Joseph. Who brought the pig to the neighborhood mosque? And for heaven’s sake, why? This multiethnic mystery from the author of Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio pays homage to the cinematic tradition of the commedia all’italiana as it lightheartedly probes the challenges and joys of life in a newly multicultural society.

It’s 2005. The Italian secret service has received intel that a group of Muslim immigrants based in Rome’s Viale Marconi neighborhood is planning a terrorist attack. Christian Mazzari, a young Sicilian court translator who speaks perfect Arabic, goes undercover to infiltrate the group and learn who its leaders are. Christian poses as Issa, a recently arrived Tunisian in search of looking for a place to sleep and a job. He soon meets Sofia, a young Egyptian immigrant whose life with her husband, Said a.k.a. Felice, an architect who has reinvented himself as a pizza cook, is anything but fulfilling. In alternating voices, with an anthropologist’s keen eye and sparkling wit Lakhous examines the commonplaces and stereotypes typical of life in multicultural societies. Divorce Islamic Style mixes the rational and the absurd as it describes the conflicts and contradictions of today’s world. Marvelous set pieces, episodes rich in pathos, brilliant dialogue, and mordant folk proverbs combine as the novel moves towards an unforgettable and surprising finale that will have readers turning back to the first page of Lakhous’s stunning novel to begin the ride all over again.

Divorce Islamic Style

A fun and farcical novel, this new “whodunnit” about life in multicultural Italy by Amara Lakhous will delight fans of Lakhous’ earlier bestseller, Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, and readers of novels such as The Yacoubian Building by Alaa-Al-Aswany. Bittersweet, like any self-respecting Italian comedy, The Prank is a Pirandellian exploration of identity in today’s multicultural, polyglot societies. Lakhous draws inspiration from everyday reality, describing his approach to writing as “total literature,” a term he has adapted from soccer’s “total football.” He plays in attack, describing in this work the realities of an Italy of the future with colorful characters portrayed in limpid but lively prose. “French and British literatures have long been enriched by the biculturalism of authors like Tahar Ben Jelloun, Amin Maalouf, Gaitam Malkani, and Monica Ali. With talented new writers like Lakhous, Italy is closing the gap.” —The New York Times “As a novelist of culture clash, Lakhous has the faculty to maintain colorful voices with the luxury of introducing political themes as instantiations of character.”—Bookforum

It's 2005. The Italian secret service has received intel that a group of Muslim immigrants based in Rome's Viale Marconi neighborhood is planning a terrorist attack. Chirsitan Mazzari, a young Sicilian court translator who speaks perfect Arabic, goes undercover to infiltrate the group and learn who its leaders are. Christian poses as Issa, a recently arrived Tunisian in search of looking for a place to sleep and a job. He soon meets Sofia, a young Egyptian immigrant whose life with her husband, Said a.k.a. Felice, an architect who has reinvented himself as a pizza cook, is anything but fulfilling. In alternating voices, with an anthropologist's keen eye and sparkling wit Lakhous examines the commonplaces and stereotypes typical of life in multicultural societies. Divorce Islamic Style mixes the rational and the absurd as it describes the conflicts and contradictions of today's world. Marvelous set pieces, episodes rich in pathos, brilliant dialogue, and mordant folk proverbs combine as the novel moves towards an unforgettable and surprising finale that will have readers turning back to the first page of Lakhous's stunning novel to begin the ride all over again.

Mord an der Piazza Vittorio! Ein Verbrechen soll aufgeklärt werden, aber vor allem entfaltet sich zwischen den Marktständen und in den Treppenhäusern der Palazzi ein vielstimmiges Portrait des römischen Lebens: Im Aufzug eines Wohnhauses an der Piazza Vittorio in Rom wird ein junger Italiener mit dem Spitznamen Il Gladiatore, den alle Hausbewohner unsympathisch fanden, tot aufgefunden. Amedeo (eigentlich Ahmed), den alle für einen Italiener halten und sympathisch finden, wird offiziell verdächtigt, der Mörder zu sein, weil er seither verschwunden ist. Nun darf jeder Hausbewohner "die Wahrheit" aus seiner Sicht erzählen: ein Koch aus dem Iran, eine neapolitanische Hausmeisterin, ein holländischer Filmstudent, eine peruanische Altenpflegerin. Sogar der abwesende Amedeo kommt zu Wort und kommentiert die Weltsicht seiner Mitbewohner - das Ganze gerät unversehens zur commedia all'italiana! Ein Buch über Rom, über die italienische Gesellschaft, ihre Bürokratie und ihren Erfindungsreichtum, über kulturelle Vorurteile, Missverständnisse und Freundschaften. Geschrieben von einem jungen Autor, der den Leser mit ironisch-leichtem Ton in den Bann zieht.

Amara Lakhous

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