Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio by Amara Lakhous is a novel about the disarray of a culturally diverse community in an apartment in Rome. The story is set in the wake of Lorenzo Manfredini’s (or the “Gladiator”) murder and the tenants are being interviewed by the authorities. As a result, the novel is narrated through a series of accounts by the twelve neighbors and the descriptions of Amedeo’s hardships of assimilations in which are referred to as “wails”. These wails are contrary to the personal accounts of the tenants and serves as Amedeo’s interpretation of the contemporary events. In doing so Lakhous creates unique voices that gives readers a glimpse of the prejudices these tenants have of each other in the
