Synopses & Reviews
Primo Levi, author of
Survival in Auschwitz and
The Periodic Table, wrote books that have been called the essential works of humankind. Yet he lived an unremarkable existence, remaining until his death in the house in which he'd been born; managing a paint and varnish factory for thirty years; and tending his invalid mother to the last. Now, in a matchless account, Ian Thomson unravels the strands of a life as improbable as it was influential, the story of the most modest of men who became a universal touchstone of conscience and humanism.
Drawing on exclusive access to family members and previously unseen correspondence, Thomson reconstructs the world of Levi's youth-the rhythms of Jewish life in Turin during the Mussolini years-as well as his experience in Auschwitz and difficult reintegration into postwar Italy. Thomson presents Levi in all his facets: his fondness for Louis Armstrong and fast cars, his insomnia and many near-catastrophic work accidents. Finally, he explores the controversy and isolation of Levi's later years, along with the increasing tensions in his life-between his private anguish and gift for friendship; his severe bouts of depression and passion for life and ideas; his pervasive dread and reasoned, pragmatic ethic.
Praised in Britain as "the best sort of history" and "a model of its kind," Primo Levi: A Life is certain to take its place as the standard biography and a necessary companion to the works themselves.
Review
"A masterpiece of fact and revelation, unlikely to be surpassed"--
The Daily Telegraph
Review
"Beautiful in its arrangement and narration, measured and honest without ever being remotely dull. Thank goodness for Ian Thomson... the true and perfect biographer of Primo Levi."
--Daily Mail (UK)
"A modest but imposing work."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Thomson has surely written one of the best literary biographies of the year . . . Shrewdly, he has provided what any lover of Levi needs close by: not a critical interpretation or reinterpretation, but a reader's companion . . . Thomson writes with an exemplary mastery of detail and rare narrative verve . . . Superb."
--The Observer
"Intelligent, low-key, well-written, and mercifully innocent of big claims. It brilliantly captures what is remarkable about its subject: the life and emotional economy of a man who was 'ordinary'...An important biography."
--London Review of Books
"Ian Thomson has done a prodigious amount of research and presents a considerable amount of fresh biographical material . . . Highly persuasive."
--The New York Review of Books
Synopsis
Praised in Britain as "the best sort of history" and "a model of its kind," "Primo Levi: A Life" is certain to take its place as the standard biography of the man and a necessary companion to his works.
Synopsis
Primo Levi wrote books that have been called "the essential works of humankind," including
Survival in Auschwitz and
The Periodic Table. Yet he lived an unremarkable existence, remaining to his death in the house in which he'd been born; managing a paint and varnish factory for thirty years; and tending his invalid mother to the end. Now, in a matchless account, Ian Thomson unravels the strands of an influential life.
About the Author
Ian Thomson, a journalist and translator of Italian fiction, was one of the last writers to interview Primo Levi. Thomson devoted ten years to this biography. He lives in London.