The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

In this literary masterpiece, one of the twentieth century's most significant writers reflects on his life before and after the Holocaust, merging the scientific and the humane into a profound "work of healing" (New York Times Book Review) . Fiftieth anniversary edition, with a new introduction by Rivka Galchen

As a youth, Primo Levi became fascinated by the laboratory, a site where the mysteries of the material world are unlocked and substances reveal their deepest truths. In this graceful, vital book-originally published in Italian in 1975-his passion for chemistry spans his extraordinary life story, with each chapter's theme anchored in a different element of the periodic table. Beginning with his childhood in Italy's Piedmontese Jewish community, Levi narrates his years as a student and fledgling scientist, before the descent of World War II, when he fought as an anti-fascist partisan until his arrest and transportation to Auschwitz. After surviving captivity, he returned to his work as a chemist and as a writer, striving in both realms to transmute matter into meaning. An artistic masterpiece of the highest order, The Periodic Table champions the power of friendship and curiosity to transcend times of tyranny and testifies to the fundamental interconnectedness of all the stuff of the universe-including us.

Levi, Primo: - Born to a Jewish family in Turin in 1919, Primo Levi was trained as a chemist. During World War II, he was arrested as a member of a partisan group and deported to Auschwitz. After the camp's liberation, he returned to Italy and worked as a chemist, writing only on the side. His first book Survival at Auschwitz was a personal account of his year at the camps. The follow-up memoir The Reawakening cemented Levi as a leading authority on the Holocaust. Other books by Levi include Periodic Table, If Not Now, When?, The Monkey's Wrench, Other People's Trades, The Drowned and the Saved, and more. Primo Levi died in 1987 after falling down his apartment's stairway. Biographers remain divided as to whether his fall was a suicide or an accident.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780805210415
ISBN 10	0805210415
Title	The Periodic Table
Author	Primo Levi
Series	Everyman's Library Contemporary Classics Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Random House USA Inc
Year published	1995-04-04
Number of pages	240
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.