About the Author

Primo Levi (1919–1987), an Italian Jew, did not come to the wide attention of the English-reading audience until the last years of his life. A survivor of the Holocaust and imprisonment in Auschwitz, Levi is considered to be one of the century’s most compelling voices. His books include Survival in Auschwitz, The Reawakening, The Periodic Table, and Moments of Reprieve.

William Weaver (translator; 1923–2013) was the influential translator of such Italian writers as Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, and Elsa Morante. He authored numerous books on opera and a biography of Eleanora Duse.

Reviews

“In Levi’s writing, nothing is superfluous and everything is essential.” 
—Saul Bellow
 
“One of the most important and gifted writers of our time.” 
—Italo Calvino