To visitors, and there aren't many of those, Matteo says his apartment is a pied-à-terre, that he lives in Milan but that he's in town temporarily for scientific research. For a pied-à-terre, his apartment is nice. It's got rats, but no one notices. At night, when it's quiet, Matteo hears them gnawing. True enough.

Matteo is employed by a science magazine, Nature Methods; four days a week he does administrative work for that magazine. It started off as an after-school job, but after he graduated he never left. He's seen editors come and go, including the editor-in-chief. Read More