Primo Levi - An Identikit

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Marco Belpoliti's Primo Levi: An Identikit is a comprehensive biography of Levi, exploring his life, writing, and oeuvre. The book is organized in a mosaic format, with a chapter dedicated to each of Levi's books. It delves into the history, contents, and literary influences of Levi's works, including his masterpiece, If This Is a Man. The book also includes photographs and letters from unexplored archives, providing a rich and nuanced portrait of Levi.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 656 pages
Publication date: 03 May 2023
Publisher: Seagull Books London Ltd

Over the past seventy years, Primo Levi (1919-87) has been widely acknowledged as the foremost literary witness to the tragic extermination of European Jews. In his comprehensive and meticulously researched work, Primo Levi: An Identikit, Marco Belpoliti delves into the life, career, and multifaceted literary oeuvre of this renowned author.

The book is organized in a mosaic format, with each chapter dedicated to one of Levi's significant works. Belpoliti not only traces the history of each book's composition, publication, and literary influences but also delves into their rich contents across various fields, including chemistry, anthropology, biology, ethology, space flights, and linguistics.

One of the highlights of the book is the rereading of Levi's initially rejected masterpiece, If This Is a Man. Through this fresh perspective, readers gain insights into dreams, animals, travel, literary writing, comedy, tragedy, shame, memory, and the profound relationships he forged with other writers such as Franz Kafka, Georges Perec, Jean Améry, Varlam Shalamov, and many others.

Fundamental themes such as Judaism, the camp, and testimony permeate the book, complemented by photographs and letters discovered by the author in hitherto unexplored archives. This will undoubtedly be the definitive book on Primo Levi, offering a treasure trove of stories and reflections that vividly portray one of the twentieth century's most unique and urgent voices.

Dimension: 9 x 6 x 1 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803091907