Stupendous, Miserable CityJohn David Rhodes places the city of Rome at the center of this original and in depth examination of the work of Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolinibut its not the classical Rome you imagine. Stupendous, Miserable City situates Pasolini within the history of twentieth century Roman urban development. The book focuses first on the Fascist period, when populations were moved out of the urban center and into public housing on the periphery of the city,