Camilleri surrounds Montalbano with a motley cast of recurring characters, among them: Free Channel newscaster Nicolo Zito, whose leftist politics are simpatico with the inspector's;
lughead Catarella, who mangles every crucial communication meant for Montalbano; and informer Gege, who manages The Pasture, a sort of open-air bordello where tricks are turned and drugs are dealt under cover of night.
"The cost of manufacturing ladders increased after some
lughead tried to balance on the very top of the ladder carrying two cans of paint," her statement read.
being run and populated by morons and
lugheads 500 years from now doesn't seem that far off given our current circumstances, which is why Mike Judge's "Idiocracy" is absolutely a satire for its time.