'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, clothing and letters to Levi and other prisoners. Without Perrone, Levi could not have survived to write '

If This Is a Man, one of the most influential memoirs by a Holocaust survivor.

In A Man of Few Words, Carlo Greppi pieces together the life of Perrone, a near-destitute labourer with little formal education, who left almost no trace of his own. Despite their differences, Levi and Perrone's friendship endured long after the war, even as Perrone withdrew from the world. Levi never stopped trying to preserve the memory of his friend who has saved his life.

Compassionate, clear-eyed and deeply humane, this is the story of an ordinary man whose extraordinary courage kept hope alive in one of history's darkest places.



'Much to admire ... an intriguing study of Lorenzo Perrone, the bricklayer who helped the famous author survive Auschwitz.'



'Lucid, carefully researched pages ... 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.'



'This is a great book: scrupulously researched and superbly written.'



'Read it twice, this splendid book: the first time to get to know Lorenzo and his story; the second time to get to know yourself and your memory.'



'A thoroughly moving read. Out of utter degradation, this inspiring story emerges to remind us that the spark of human decency can never be crushed.'



'Sheds light on an unsung hero … a fluent retelling.'



'Levi's greatest piece of luck in Auschwitz was meeting Lorenzo, who kept him alive when he was hanging on to life by a thread.'



'[A Man of Few Words] is a meticulously researched biography.'