Author(s): Primo Levi

Short Stories

Profound, moving and compassionate, Primo Levi was one of the most astonishing voices to emerge from the twentieth century. Here, for the first time in English, on the twentieth anniversary of his death, is a landmark selection of his fiction - all in brand new translations. These exquisitely wrought stories open up a rich, vibrant world of wonder, adventure, resistance, love, cruelty and visceral energy, where nothing is as it seems. In "The Fugitive" an office worker composes the most beautiful poem ever, only to find events taking on a strange life of their own; in "@Magic Paint" a group of reserachers develop a paint that mysteriously protects them from misfortune, but dangerously miscalculate the outcome. In "Gladiators" and "The Knall", Primo Levi chillingly explores modern-day mass violence, while in "Fra Diavolo ion the Po", he gives a fascinating account of military service in fascist Italy. Sometimes dark and haunting, sometimes wrily amusing, always rich with arresting images and curious twists of fate, these extraordinary tales are testament to one of the literary masters of our age.