{"product_id":"9781466866065","title":"Primo Levi: A Life","description":"\u003cp\u003ePrimo Levi, author of \u003ci\u003eSurvival in Auschwitz \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Periodic Table\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraised in Britain as \"the best sort of history\" and \"a model of its kind,\"\u003ci\u003e Primo Levi: A Life \u003c\/i\u003eis certain to take its place as the standard biography and a necessary companion to the works themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holt, Henry \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47141312364784,"sku":"9781466866065","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781466866065_p0.jpg?v=1769891861","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781466866065","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}