Shalom Tower Syndrome — Albert Russo

Alexis Romani, the protagonist, and his American-born wife, Serena are spending a few months in Israel. They normally live in Milan, Italy, where Alexis, in his mid-thirties, holds an important position in a multinational company. He is going through a nervous collapse. The story is told in the first person, Alexis being the narrator. The young man's complex background catches up with him and appears to be at the root of his existential malaise. He was brought up a Catholic, while his father was an Italian Jew and his mother, a beautiful mulatto woman. He spent most of his youth in Central Africa and his early adult years in Italy. Having worked 10 years for KBI Italia, he comes to the conclusion that something is wrong with a business which deals with corrupt governments. And, of course, he has to blame himself for his involvement in the firm. On the other hand he is the founder of a cultural magazine focusing on the Third World. Against this background, it is his marriage which is at stake. But that, he isn't aware of. Instead, he relives his past in Africa with his mother, his experiences as a world traveler for KBI Italia - He will probably come out of this maze, after several suicide attempts, but at the cost of a divorce. The tone of the story is in turn hallucinatory and partly lucid, depending on whether it deals with the present in Israel, where suicide bombings have become a regular occurrence, or flashbacks of the past. His nervous breakdown reaches bottom and he questions his triple identity: African, Jewish-Italian and Catholic, asking himself what his true allegiance should be. But he's too muddled to find any answer. His kind lodger in Ashkelon, a resort town near the Gaza border, takes pity on him and suggests that the couple consult a psychiatrist friend of her nephew's. But the experience proves inconclusive. At a party given by Israeli acquaintances, the couple comes across Serena's former American lover, and Peter, a kindly German professor. This only disturbs Alexis even further. Two days after that social gathering, Alexis phones Peter, on impulse, and asks him whether they could meet in Tel Aviv - without Serena -, where the German visitor is currently staying. The two men will spend a day together, visiting the city, which Peter knows quite well. To crown this friendly tour, Peter takes his new companion to the Shalom Tower for a breathtaking view of the city and the Mediterranean. There, Alexis will attempt suicide, but as he is about to throw himself in the void, his pants get hooked on the guardrail. He barely escaped death, but this situation disconcerts Peter, who, of course, knew nothing of the young Italian's malaise. He takes him back to his hotel and wants to call Serena in Ashkelon to come and fetch her husband. But Alexis begs him not to divulge what has just happened and promises that he won't subject him to anything foolish. He opens up to the German professor and asks him if he could spend the night at the hotel, giving Serena an excuse. Peter agrees, a little reluctantly. But the hotel is full and the two men will have to share the same room. To Peter's surprise and chagrin, the young man falls in love with him. And they will make love. It is both Alexis' first homosexual experience and a revelation to the young Italian. Aware of the young man's very disturbed state of mind, Peter suggests that he go to a psychiatric clinic in Belgium where a dear friend of Peter's has been cured. It so happens that Alexis' father resides part of the year in Europe's capital, when he is not attending to his construction business in Africa. The following winter we find Alexis in a mansion-like clinic in the outskirts of Brussels. He will spend several months there, under the surveillance of a team of psychoanalysts and nurses. His father pays him a visit, and he is accompanied by Serena, who made the trip from Milan. To the young man's dismay, he learns from his father's mouth - not his wife's - that Sere