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Claire Quilliot

Primo Levi Revisited Publication date : January 1, 2004

Why did Primo Levi, the admired and renowned author of If This Is a Man, The Truce and The Periodic Table, decide to put an end to his life, at the height of his success and fame? Could Levi, the Auschwitz survivor, have been suffering from what has been known since his death as "the survivor’s syndrome", or should his suicide be imputed to some dramatic, but anecdotal, incident in a life like any other?
Claire Quilliot, who has carefully read and studied Primo Levi’s works for many years, examines the deep-seated reasons behind his violent death. Besides offering a new interpretation of Levi’s suicide, Quilliot also provides a sharp and highly detailed analysis of the works of this major twentieth-century writer.

Claire Quilliot is a writer and former teacher of literature. She is the author of Mémoires I and II, published by Editions Odile Jacob.