Join us

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Newsletter

AA.VV.

The Passenger: Rome

Cover: The Passenger: Rome - AA.VV.

AA.VV.

The Passenger: Rome

2022, pp. 192, e-Book
ISBN: 9781609457426
Region: Italy
Book collection: The Passenger
Paper edition Paper edition Paper edition
$ 14.99
READ NOW READ NOW READ NOW

The book

Fully-illustrated, The Passenger collects the best new writing, photography, art and reportage from around the world.

IN THIS VOLUME: Rome doesn’t judge you by Nicola Lagioia・The soul of the city by Matteo Nucci・39 memos for a book about Rome by Francesco Piccolo・Plus: a guide to the sounds of Rome by Letizia Muratori; the feigned unrest and real malaise of the suburbs; the influence of the Vatican; the excessive power of real estate speculators and the rule of gangs; disillusioned trappers; football fans of every age, and much more...

If you believe what’s currently being said about Rome—in the media and by its residents—the city is on the verge of collapse. Each year, it slips further down the ranking of the world’s most liveable cities. To the problems faced by all large capitals—hit-and-run tourism, traffic, the divide between elegant, Airbnb-dominated city centers and run-down suburbs—in recent years Rome seems to have added a list of calamities of its own: a string of failing administrations, widespread corruption, the resurgence of fascist movements, rampant crime. A seemingly hopeless situation, perfectly symbolized by the fact that Rome currently leads the world in the number of self-combusting public buses.

If we look closer, however, this narrative is contradicted by just as many signs that point in the opposite direction. Above all, the lack of the mass migration one would be except in these circumstances: the vast majority of Romans don’t think for a second of “betraying” their hometown, and the many newcomers who have populated it in recent decades are often indistinguishable from the natives in the profound love that binds them to the city.

Rome is a place of contradictions and opposites: an “incredibly deceptive city”, always different from what it appears to be. It is thought to be large but it is actually immense, the largest metropolis in Europe. Most important, contrary to the most common and least accurate stereotype about it, Rome is a profoundly modern city. While the city itself was founded almost three millennia ago, 92 per cent of its buildings have been built after 1945. The bottom line is that, in order to understand Rome and fix its problems, we should start considering it a normal city, “not unlike Chicago or Manchester.” Only, incomparably more beautiful.

From the same country

  • Cover: Rebel City: A Guide to New York’s Wild Side - Tiziana Rinaldi Castro

    Tiziana Rinaldi Castro

    Rebel City: A Guide to New York’s Wild Side

    2026, pp. 400, $ 19.00
    New York’s five boroughs tell a million human stories of revolution, rebellion, and resistance in this singular and timely guide to the city that...
  • Cover: Tangerinn - Emanuela Anechoum

    Emanuela Anechoum

    Tangerinn

    2026, pp. 256, $ 19.00
    Winner of the Città di Lugnano Debut Novel Prize and a finalist for the Bancarella and Rapallo BPER Bank Prize
  • Cover: The Fire: Voices of a Generation in Iran, Ukraine, and Afghanistan - Cecilia Sala

    Cecilia Sala

    The Fire: Voices of a Generation in Iran, Ukraine, and Afghanistan

    2025, pp. 208, $ 18.00
    A powerful, unflinching portrait of a generation fighting for change in Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine 
  • Cover: The Burning Origin - Daniele Mencarelli

    Daniele Mencarelli

    The Burning Origin

    2025, pp. 192, $ 18.00
    A searing story about homecoming and belonging set in contemporary Rome 
  • Cover: The Malcontents - Sacha Naspini

    Sacha Naspini

    The Malcontents

    2025, pp. 480, $ 20.00
    There is a village carved into the rock of the Maremma hinterland in Tuscany and its name is Le Case. A dying country. A provincial trap. A microcosm...
  • Cover: My Brilliant Friend Deluxe Edition: The Four Volumes - Elena Ferrante

    Elena Ferrante

    My Brilliant Friend Deluxe Edition: The Four Volumes

    2025, pp. 1248, $ 65.00
    “An unconditional masterpiece.” —Jhumpa Lahiri 

More suggestions

  • Cover: Rebel City: A Guide to New York’s Wild Side - Tiziana Rinaldi Castro

    Tiziana Rinaldi Castro

    Rebel City: A Guide to New York’s Wild Side

    2026, pp. 400, $ 19.00
    New York’s five boroughs tell a million human stories of revolution, rebellion, and resistance in this singular and timely guide to the city that...
  • Cover: The Fire: Voices of a Generation in Iran, Ukraine, and Afghanistan - Cecilia Sala

    Cecilia Sala

    The Fire: Voices of a Generation in Iran, Ukraine, and Afghanistan

    2025, pp. 208, $ 18.00
    A powerful, unflinching portrait of a generation fighting for change in Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine 
  • Cover: Slow Down or Die - Timothée Parrique

    Timothée Parrique

    Slow Down or Die

    2025, pp. 288, $ 19.00
    A bold call to abandon the myth of endless economic growth and embrace a sustainable, just, and thriving future. 
  • Cover: How Isn’t It Going? - Delphine Horvilleur

    Delphine Horvilleur

    How Isn’t It Going?

    2025, pp. 128, $ 16.95
    From France’s leading Jewish intellectual, an intimate yet universal meditation on October 7, its legacy, and the way forward
  • Cover: Moving the Moon: A Night at the Acropolis Museum - Andrea Marcolongo

    Andrea Marcolongo

    Moving the Moon: A Night at the Acropolis Museum

    2024, pp. 144, $ 22.00
    From one of Europe’s most original and brilliant classicists, an inspiring and deeply personal reflection on loss, memory, and what we owe the past...
  • Cover: The Ogre’s Daughter - Catherine Bardon

    Catherine Bardon

    The Ogre’s Daughter

    2024, pp. 384, $ 28.00
    The turbulent life story of Flor de Oro Trujillo, the eldest child of one of the world’s most brutal dictators.

Join Our Newsletter and receive a FREE eBook!

Stay updated on Europa’s forthcoming releases, author tours and major news.

Are you a bookseller? Click here!

Are you a librarian? Click here!

X