The Monkey's Wrench
by Primo Levi

The Monkey's Wrench cover
Cover of The Monkey's Wrench on the Open Library.

An Italian construction worker tells stories of his adventures to his fellow countryman, a chemist, while both are stuck in a miserable Russian town on business.

Mentioned in an article listing several short story cycle style novels that I’m fond of (or was at the time).

Discussion at Multo.