During the 1960s, what was once an essentially American institution, the Western motion picture, was pretty much taken over as a thriving Italian movie industry churned out numerous box-office hits that came to be called Spaghetti Westerns. So what, you might ask, does this have to do with Andrea Camilleri's short novel, "The Sacco Gang," as translated by Stephen Sarterelli? After all, it takes place in Italy — more specifically, Sicily — during the 1920s.

The thing is, "The Sacco Gang" almost reads like a treatment for a Spaghetti Western, taking place in Italy instead of the American West.
It features peaceful farmers, members of the Sacco family, who just want to get along with everyone and share their prosperity with others. The patriarch, Luigi Sacco, works hard as a seasonal day worker and eventually does well enough to buy his own land and get married and raise five sons and a daughter.