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The Day Of The Owl
Series: Granta Shorts
Brief Description
In the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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This novel about the Mafia is also a mesmerizing demonstration of how that organization sustains itself. It is both a beautifully, tautly written story and a brave act of denunciation.
INCLUDED IN THE GRANTA SHORTS LIST: a crime has been committed in a public place. A dark-suited man was shot as he ran for a bus. The investigating officer of the crime soon finds that, in this small Mafia-run town, no one saw him fall...
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Description
In the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by a wall of silence and vested interests; he must work against the community to save it and expose the truth.
The narrative of The Day Of The Owl moves on two levels: that of the investigator, who reveals a chain of savage crimes; and that of the bystanders and watchers, of those complicit with secret power, whose gossipy, furtive conversations have only one end — to stop the truth coming out.
Series: Granta Shorts
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The Day Of The Owl
In the piazza, a man lies dead. No one will say if they witnessed his killing. This presents a challenge to the investigating officer, a man who earnestly believes in the values of a democratic and modern society. Indeed, his enquiries are soon blocked off by a wall of silence and vested interests; he must work against the community to...PaperbackSold Out -
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781803514420
Publisher: Granta Books
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 09 April 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Granta Books
Contributors:
- Translated by Arthur Oliver
- Translated by Archibald Colquhoun
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 128
About the Author
Leonardo Sciascia was born in Sicily in 1921 and died there in 1989. A master of lucid and accessible prose, Sciascia worked with deceptively simple forms - books about crime, historical novels, political thrillers - in order to engage with the moral and historical problems of modern Italy, especially his native Sicily. His books are rooted in a particular culture but speak to anyone who has ever wondered how people can endure unbearable injustice. Equal Danger was made into the film Illustrious Corpses by Francesco Rosi.
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