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A review by niculina
The City of the Living by Nicola Lagioia
4.0
(Originally posted on NetGalley)
The City of the Living was a heart-wrenching yet compulsive read. It tells the story of a crime that the author portrays as a distinctly Roman transgression. Similar to King's The Shining, the evil of this crime seems to seep and ooze from the very environment in which it takes place. The overflowing waste and overrun rat population in a city beget by corruption, drugs, and depravity mirrors the dissipation of Manuel Foffo and Marco Prato, two capricious twenty-something year olds who became household names for the most monstrous of reasons. And yet, Lagioia cautions the reader against regarding Foffo and Prato as pure monsters. There is a context to the events of that night in March 2016. Rather than painting a picture of two irredeemable villains, Lagioia takes the reader to the very depths of human nature and guides us as we wade through the scum and detritus beneath. The book flows so urgently and is so absorbing that the reader may find themselves forgetting that it is indeed a work of non-fiction. This is a credit to the author's extensive research and hours upon hours of interviews over espresso in the piazzas of the Eternal City. The plaiting of established evidence and philosophical musings on human fallibility, transgression, family, and place afford the book its well-deserved position beside such works as Capote's In Cold Blood. Yet, enjoying such a book lures the reader into reflections on one's own moralities regarding the consumption of true crime. Nonetheless, The City of the Living is a worthy title to join Europa Editions' quality catalog.
The City of the Living was a heart-wrenching yet compulsive read. It tells the story of a crime that the author portrays as a distinctly Roman transgression. Similar to King's The Shining, the evil of this crime seems to seep and ooze from the very environment in which it takes place. The overflowing waste and overrun rat population in a city beget by corruption, drugs, and depravity mirrors the dissipation of Manuel Foffo and Marco Prato, two capricious twenty-something year olds who became household names for the most monstrous of reasons. And yet, Lagioia cautions the reader against regarding Foffo and Prato as pure monsters. There is a context to the events of that night in March 2016. Rather than painting a picture of two irredeemable villains, Lagioia takes the reader to the very depths of human nature and guides us as we wade through the scum and detritus beneath. The book flows so urgently and is so absorbing that the reader may find themselves forgetting that it is indeed a work of non-fiction. This is a credit to the author's extensive research and hours upon hours of interviews over espresso in the piazzas of the Eternal City. The plaiting of established evidence and philosophical musings on human fallibility, transgression, family, and place afford the book its well-deserved position beside such works as Capote's In Cold Blood. Yet, enjoying such a book lures the reader into reflections on one's own moralities regarding the consumption of true crime. Nonetheless, The City of the Living is a worthy title to join Europa Editions' quality catalog.