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A Tranquil Star Audiobook
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(3.08) - 219 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
A Tranquil Star, the first new American collection of Primo Levi's previously untranslated fiction to appear since 1990, affirms his position as one of the twentieth century's most enduring writers. These seventeen stories, first published in Italian between 1949 and 1986 and translated by Ann Goldstein and Alessandra Bastagli, demonstrate Levi's extraordinary range, taking the reader from the primal resistance of a captured partisan fighter to a middle-aged chemist experimenting with a new paint that wards off evil, to the lustful thoughts of an older man obsessed with a mysterious woman in a seaside villa. In the title story, Levi demonstrates his unerringly tragic understanding of the fragility of the universe through the tale of a pensive astronomer, terrified by the possibility that a long-dormant star might explode and reduce the entire planet to vapor. This remarkable new collection affirms Italo Calvino's conviction that Levi was one of the most important and gifted writers of our time.
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"I'm a huge Primo Levi fan and I've read all his novels. I preferred the later stories to the earlier ones. I don't know why they call them unpublished since most of them have been published before but in Italian. "
— Ellen (4 out of 5 stars)
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“These pieces…shed further light on Levi’s life and work.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“The infinite and the ineffable, portrayed with singular wit and charm.”
— Kirkus (starred review)
A Tranquil Star Listener Reviews
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" One Night appeals to every idealist. "
— Gbeab, 2/9/2014 -
" Short, quirky, elegant stories. "
— Frank, 1/19/2014 -
" a charming collection of short stories from a man usually known as a holocaust writer. this a quick read, and i enjoyed it very much. "
— Angela, 1/11/2014 -
" Some 3s, some 4s, some 5s (One Night the 5iest) among these 17 nice tales from Primo Levi. "
— Steve, 1/10/2014 -
" stunning prose. "
— Bets, 1/6/2014 -
" Was aware of Mr. Levi's memoirs & essays, but this unpublished collection was a pleasant surprise. Somewhat reminescent of Steven Millhausen's work.....whimsical, a bit askew, but not as dark. "
— Mike, 12/28/2013 -
" there are some good stories in here and some i don't really fully remember. "
— Dusty, 12/27/2013 -
" The most notable stories, in my opinion, were "The Molecule's Revenge", "The Death of Marinese", "In the Park", "The Magic Paint", and "A Tranquil Star". "
— Vasha7, 12/26/2013 -
" Stories that do not have holocaust theme, written later in his life. He was a great story teller with real humor. "
— Jean, 12/11/2013 -
" Deceptively simple stories-- often amazing. "
— Katrinka, 11/15/2013 -
" Some of these short stories will stay with you forever. "
— Graham, 11/3/2013 -
" It's hard for me not to really like Levi, but this is definitely the weakest work of his that I've read. "
— Jesse, 10/20/2013 -
" I didn't actually read all the stories--though I thought they were good, I got tired of the sort of bite-sized format. Bear Meat, which I read in a magazine at some point, is wonderful. Even better was A Tranquil Star, a meditation on the failures of language--a neat way to end a story collection. "
— Kate, 5/20/2013 -
" I listened to about half of this book, and then had to turn it back to the library. I should take it out again and listen to the rest. Some stories were more insightful than others, but overall I enjoyed what I heard. "
— Rose, 9/13/2012 -
" I'm a huge Primo Levi fan and I've read all his novels. I preferred the later stories to the earlier ones. I don't know why they call them unpublished since most of them have been published before but in Italian. "
— Ellen, 7/23/2012 -
" It feel somewhat sacreligious not to praise Levi, but the truth is that this is not a very good collection of stories. Although there are some high points when he writes about the displacement of the War, on the whole, this does not stand beside his greatest work. "
— Mk100, 1/6/2012 -
" An interesting collection. Enjoyable but not as good as Periodic Table. "
— Sydney, 9/25/2011 -
" The first book of Primo Levi I've read. Bear Meat is a great story. It depicts hiking and stamina perfectly. "
— Alberta, 8/22/2011 -
" Whimsical stories, bordering on precious... many of them on the wrong side of that border in my opinion. 'The Sorcerers' was my favorite story of the set. "
— Steve, 6/12/2011 -
" One Night appeals to every idealist. "
— Gbeab, 11/9/2010 -
" Stories that do not have holocaust theme, written later in his life. He was a great story teller with real humor. "
— Jean, 1/26/2010 -
" It feel somewhat sacreligious not to praise Levi, but the truth is that this is not a very good collection of stories. Although there are some high points when he writes about the displacement of the War, on the whole, this does not stand beside his greatest work. "
— Mk100, 1/4/2010 -
" An interesting collection. Enjoyable but not as good as Periodic Table. "
— Sydney, 6/7/2009 -
" The first book of Primo Levi I've read. Bear Meat is a great story. It depicts hiking and stamina perfectly. "
— Alberta, 1/28/2009 -
" Some of these short stories will stay with you forever. "
— Graham, 12/7/2008 -
" I listened to about half of this book, and then had to turn it back to the library. I should take it out again and listen to the rest. Some stories were more insightful than others, but overall I enjoyed what I heard. "
— Rose, 7/25/2008 -
" there are some good stories in here and some i don't really fully remember. "
— Dusty, 9/24/2007 -
" a charming collection of short stories from a man usually known as a holocaust writer. this a quick read, and i enjoyed it very much. "
— Angela, 8/2/2007
About Primo Levi
Primo Levi (1919–1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, Holocaust survivor, and author of memoirs, short stories, poems, and novels. He gained international recognition for his 1959 memoir Survival in Auschwitz.
About David Colacci
David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has won numerous Earphones Awards, earned Audie Award nominations, and been included in Best Audio of the Year lists by such publications as Publishers Weekly, AudioFile magazine, and Library Journal. He was a resident actor and director with the Cleveland Play House for eight years and has been artistic director of the Hope Summer Rep Theater since 1992.