{"product_id":"understanding-primo-levi-nicholas-patruno-9781570037917","title":"Understanding Primo Levi","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA thorough introduction to an author who mixes devotion to art and science with the harrowing experiences of Auschwitz\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrimo Levi emerged from the Holocaust as one of the most powerful voices to bear witness to the atrocities of the Nazi concentration camps. Italian by birth and Jewish by ancestry, this young chemist survived Auschwitz and later, with his sober retelling of the horrific experience, consecrated the memory of millions who perished there. In this companion to his works, Nicholas Patruno analyzes Levi's novels, short stories, and essays to reveal a writer who eloquently evoked the soul of the persecuted Jew but who never came to terms with the guilt of his own survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePatruno contents that while Jewish themes recur throughout Levi's work, labeling him narrowly as an ethnic writer would be inaccurate. Rather, Patruno echoes Italo Calvino in defining Levi as a writer of \"encyclopedic vein\" and argues that Levi's significance as artist and communicator lies in the fusion of his scientific sensibilities and literary creativity. Patruno examines the synthesis of science and art in \u003ci\u003eThe Periodic Table, \u003c\/i\u003e considered by many to be Levi's greatest work. He also critiques \u003ci\u003eThe Monkey's Wrench, \u003c\/i\u003e Levi's short fiction and essays, the four books created directly from his Holocaust experience, and \u003ci\u003eIf Not Now, When?, \u003c\/i\u003e perhaps Levi's only truly conventional novel. Patruno shows that although Levi wrote absorbingly about a variety of topics, his work was always informed by his Holocaust experiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Nicholas Patruno\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1570037914\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781570037917\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of South Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/02\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.62lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.43d","brand":"Nicholas Patruno","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48453795414271,"sku":"9781570037917","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_48f550e1-0d0e-4853-8fca-fc745f7265eb.jpg?v=1777302353","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/understanding-primo-levi-nicholas-patruno-9781570037917","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}