La Ciudad de Los Vivos / The City of the Living

«Colosal y perturbadora, con mimbres de Truman Capote y Emmanuel Carr鋨e .
Daniel Verd? El Pa疄

En marzo de 2016, en un apartamento situado a las afueras de Roma, dos j镽enes de buena familia se pasaron varios d燰s de fiesta, poni幯dose hasta arriba de coca璯a, pastillas y alcohol. Decidieron invitar a alguien y tras llamar a varios amigos que no pod燰n o no contestaban, dieron con Luca Varani, un chico al que apenas conoc燰n. Le ofrecieron drogas y dinero a cambio de sexo. Se divirtieron hasta que empezaron a torturarle y terminaron asesin嫕dolo a cuchillazos y golpes de martillo. Ten燰 23 a隳s, era hijo de una familia humilde de la periferia, un buen chaval que se buscaba la vida como pod燰. Nadie entendi?por qu?lo hicieron, no hubo respuestas para tanto horror. Desde la c嫫cel uno de los asesinos dijo que «quer燰n saber que se sent燰 al matar a alguien . Ten燰n 28 y 29 a隳s: Manuel Foffo, proveniente de una familia de comerciantes, y Marco Prato, un conocido relaciones plicas de la noche gay romana, hijo de un profesor universitario.
El escritor Nicola Lagioia se obsesion?con el caso. Acababa de recibir el Premio Strega por su anterior novela, el premio m嫳 importante de Italia, y dedic?cuatro a隳s de su vida a esta historia. Habl?con todos los implicados, con los amigos y familiares de los tres chicos, accedi?a la investigaci鏮 y al juicio y lleg?a cartearse con uno de los culpables. Se sumergi?en lo m嫳 oscuro de la noche romana y se adentr?en la inaccesible burgues燰 romana. El resultado es una cr鏮ica literaria maycula: una investigaci鏮 sobre la naturaleza humana bajo el silencio de las calles vac燰s de la ciudad eterna.
«En La ciudad de los vivos est?el temblor de lo que sucede y de lo que no sucede, de lo que llega sin aviso y ya es irreparable y no termina nunca .
Antonio Mu隳z Molina, Babelia

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The true story of the murder that shocked Italy. A ruthless portrait of Rome's dark side.

Colossal and disturbing, with vines of Truman Capote and Emmanuel Carr鋨e."
Daniel Verd? El Pa疄

In March 2016, in an apartment on the outskirts of Rome, two young men from a good family spent several days partying, getting pumped full of cocaine, pills and alcohol. They decided to invite someone over and after calling several friends who could not or did not answer, they found Luca Varani, a boy they hardly knew. They offered him drugs and money in exchange for sex. They had fun until they began to torture him and ended up murdering him with knives and hammer blows. He was 23 years old, he was the son of a humble family on the outskirts, a good kid who did the best he could. No one understood why they did it, there were no answers to such horror. From prison one of the murderers said that they wanted to know what it felt like when killing someone. They were 28 and 29 years old: Manuel Foffo, from a family of merchants, and Marco Prato, a well-known in public relations of the Roman gay night scene, son of a university professor.

Writer Nicola Lagioia became obsessed with the case. He had just received the Strega Prize for his previous novel, the highest award in Italy, and he dedicated four years of his life to this story. He spoke with all those involved, with the friends and relatives of the three boys, got access to the investigation and the trial and came to correspond with one of the culprits. He plunged into the darkest Roman night and entered the inaccessible Roman bourgeoisie. The result is a capital literary chronicle: an investigation into human nature under the silence of the empty streets of the Eternal City.

In The City of the Living there is the earthquake of what happens and what does not happen, of what comes without warning and is now irreparable and never ends.
Antonio Mu隳z Molina, Babelia