Primo Levi: Tragedy of an Optimist

Primo Levi: Tragedy of an Optimist

$20.00 AUD

Availability: in stock at our Melbourne warehouse.

Condition: SECONDHAND

NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.

Author: Myriam Anissimov

Format: Hardback

Number of Pages: 604


This revised and updated edition of Myriam Anissimov's penetrating and thoughtful biography of Primo Levi, delves deeply into the life, mind and work of the influential and controversial writer, philosopher and Holocaust witness. An unassuming Italian-Jewish chemist, Primo Levi was captured at the age of twenty four by the fascist militia and deported to Auschwitz in a convoy of 650 'items'. Levi was among the few survivors and, upon returning to his native village, he undertook to bear witness to what he had experienced. His testimony is conveyed in a series of extraordinary books, among them "The Periodic Table", "Survival in Auschwitz", and "If This Is a Man". Drawing on exhaustive research and interviews with friends and relatives, as well as numerous unpublished texts and testimonies, Myriam Anissimov explores the complex nature of a most singular, shy, intelligent and diffident man who was both a strong-spirited survivor and a sufferer of depression. It presents a man who felt misunderstood, certain that future generations would inevitably forget, and even deny, that the Holocaust happened. Indeed, on April 11, 1987, his self-deprecating depression was to lead him to suicide by throwing himself down the staircase of the building in which he was born.



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Description
NB: This is a secondhand book in very good condition. See our FAQs for more information. Please note that the jacket image is indicative only. A description of our secondhand books is not always available. Please contact us if you have a question about this title.

Author: Myriam Anissimov

Format: Hardback

Number of Pages: 604


This revised and updated edition of Myriam Anissimov's penetrating and thoughtful biography of Primo Levi, delves deeply into the life, mind and work of the influential and controversial writer, philosopher and Holocaust witness. An unassuming Italian-Jewish chemist, Primo Levi was captured at the age of twenty four by the fascist militia and deported to Auschwitz in a convoy of 650 'items'. Levi was among the few survivors and, upon returning to his native village, he undertook to bear witness to what he had experienced. His testimony is conveyed in a series of extraordinary books, among them "The Periodic Table", "Survival in Auschwitz", and "If This Is a Man". Drawing on exhaustive research and interviews with friends and relatives, as well as numerous unpublished texts and testimonies, Myriam Anissimov explores the complex nature of a most singular, shy, intelligent and diffident man who was both a strong-spirited survivor and a sufferer of depression. It presents a man who felt misunderstood, certain that future generations would inevitably forget, and even deny, that the Holocaust happened. Indeed, on April 11, 1987, his self-deprecating depression was to lead him to suicide by throwing himself down the staircase of the building in which he was born.