Andrea Camilleri is the bestselling author of the
popular Inspector Montalbano mystery series, as well as historical
novels that take place in nineteenth-century Sicily. He lives in
Rome.
Stephen Sartarelli (translator) is an award-winning
translator and poet. He lives in France.
Praise for Andrea Camilleri and the Montalbano Series
“Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano mysteries might sell like
hotcakes in Europe, but these world-weary crime stories were
unknown here until the oversight was corrected (in Stephen
Sartarelli’s salty translation) by the welcome publication of The
Shape of Water…This savagely funny police procedural…prove[s] that
sardonic laughter is a sound that translates ever so smoothly into
English.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Hailing from the land of Umberto Eco and La Cosa Nostra,
Montalbano can discuss a pointy-headed book like Western Attitudes
Toward Death as unflinchingly as he can pore over crime-scene snuff
photos. He throws together an extemporaneous lunch of shrimp with
lemon and oil as gracefully as he dodges advances from attractive
women.”—Los Angeles Times
“[Camilleri’s mysteries] offer quirky characters, crisp dialogue,
bright storytelling—and Salvo Montalbano, one of the most engaging
protagonists in detective fiction…Montalbano is a delightful
creation, an honest man on Sicily’s mean streets.”—USA Today
“Camilleri is as crafty and charming a writer as his protagonist is
an investigator.”—The Washington Post Book World
“Like Mike Hammer or Sam Spade, Montalbano is the kind of guy who
can’t stay out of trouble…Still, deftly and lovingly translated by
Stephen Sartarelli, Camilleri makes it abundantly clear that under
the gruff, sardonic exterior our inspector has a heart of gold, and
that any outburst, fumbles, or threats are made only in the name of
pursuing truth.”—The Nation
“Camilleri can do a character’s whole backstory in half a
paragraph.”—The New Yorker
“Subtle, sardonic, and molto simpatico: Montalbano is the
Latin re-creation of Philip Marlowe, working in a place that
manages to be both more and less civilized than chandler’ Los
Angeles.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Wit and delicacy and the fast-cut timing of farce play across the
surface…but what keeps it from frothing into mere intellectual
charm is the persistent, often sexually bemused Montalbano, moving
with ease along zigzags created for him, teasing out threads of
discrepancy that unravel the whole.”—Houston Chronicle
“Sublime and darkly humorous…Camilleri balances his hero’s personal
and professional challenges perfectly and leaves the reader eager
for more.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“The Montalbano mysteries offer cose dolci to the world-lit lover
hankering for a whodunit.”—The Village Voice
“In Sicily, where people do things as they please, Inspector Salvo
Montalbano is a bona fide folk hero.”—The New York Times Book
Review
“The books are full of sharp, precise characterizations and with
subplots that make Montalbano endearingly human…Like the antipasti
that Montalbano contentedly consumes, the stories are light and
easily consumed, leaving one eager for the next course.”—New York
Journal of Books
“The reading of these little gems is fast and fun every step of the
way.”—The New York Sun
“This series is distinguished by Camilleri’s remarkable feel for
tragicomedy, expertly mixing light and dark in the course of
producing novels that are both comforting and disturbing.”—Booklist
Ask a Question About this Product More... |