Primo Levi: Biography, A

On 11 April 1987 the Italian writer Primo Levi fell to his death in the house where he was born. More than forty years after his rescue from a Nazi concentration camp, it now seemed that Levi had committed suicide. Levi's account of Auschwitz, If This Is a Man, is recognised as one of the essential books of mankind. No other work interrogates our recent moral history so incisively or conveys more profoundly the horror of the Nazi genocide. Ian Thomson spent over ten years in Italy and elsewhere researching and writing this rich and definitive biography. New light is shed on Levi's recurring depressions and vital information is unearthed regarding the writer's premature death. This matchless book unravels the strands of a life caught between the factory and the typewriter, family and friends. Review: "Thomson writes with snap-brio and a sense of relevance" -- Clive James * Times Literary Supplement * "A model of its kind: beautiful in its arrangement and narration, measured and honest without every being remotely dull. Thank goodness for Ian Thomson...over and over again it is Thomson who proves himself, through his precision, modesty and intelligence, the true and perfect biographer of Primo Levi" -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday * "A formidable work of literary biography... An absolutely brilliant account of wartime Italy... Very, very powerful" -- Richard Holmes * BBC Radio Four * "Clearly written with love, and unlikely to be surpassed" * Sunday Telegraph * "Pacy, straight-down-the-line-coolly authoritative" -- Blake Morrison * Guardian * Author Biography: Born in 1961, Ian Thomson was among the last to interview Primo Levi. He is an expert on Italian literature and has translated the Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia into English. His account on Haiti, Bonjour Blanc, was highly praised by reviewers, including J. G. Ballard and Norman Stone. Thomson, who has also written a book on southern Italy, is a freelance writer and journalist living in London with his wife and children. 'One of the best literary biographies of the year...superb... Levi, I think, would have appreciated it' Observer