Man of Few Words

'Nobody knows how much I owe that man,' Primo Levi said of the bricklayer who saved his life at Auschwitz. 'I could never repay him.'

Levi was referring to Lorenzo Perrone, who for six months risked his own life to smuggle food, letters and clothing to Levi, providing him with the sustenance he needed to survive.

In A Man of Few Words, Carlo Greppi pieces together the life of Perrone, a near destitute labourer with little formal education. Despite their stark differences, Levi and Perrone's friendship survived the Holocaust and continued until Perrone's tragic death. As Perrone withdrew from the world, Levi tried persistently to preserve the memory of this man of few words who had saved his life, but who left few traces of his own behind.

This is a universal story about an individual who kept hope alive in one of the darkest times and places known to man.

'A story for all stories: Greppi has rescued it from oblivion .. Inch by inch, Lorenzo Perrone has taken a little bit of evil out of the world' - Rolling Stone

'Greppi's biography, from start to finish a marvel of sympathetic insight, is a valuable addition to Levi's writings on the human infamy that was Auschwitz.' - Times Literary Supplement