Understanding Primo Levi

Discusses Levi's books, largely autobiographical (some of them semi-fictional), including "Survival at Auschwitz, " "The Reawakening" (recounting his journey back to postwar Italy from Auschwitz), "The Periodic Table, " "If Not Now, When?, " and "The Drowned and the Saved, " as well as his short stories and essays. Describes Levi's themes, literary techniques, and literary antecedents. Levi's central concern was with what humanizes and dehumanizes human beings. He placed particular emphasis on the importance of communication and expression for human existence.