Mario Rigoni Stern was born in 1921 in Asiago, in the mountains of northeastern Italy. Throughout his literary career, he has remained deeply attached to the region of his birth, its peasant customs, its dialect, its seasonal cycles and shifting historical fortunes. Tonle Bintarn's story takes place in the mountains of the Veneto region, which once bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire and where smuggling was a means of subsistence for the peasant population. Having run afoul of a patrol of revenue agents, Tonle must seek refuge beyond the frontier in Central Europe, where year after year he...

Mario Rigoni Stern was born in 1921 in Asiago, in the mountains of northeastern Italy. Throughout his literary career, he has remained deeply attached to the region of his birth, its peasant customs, its dialect, its seasonal cycles and shifting historical fortunes.Tonle Bintarn's story takes place in the mountains of the Veneto region, which once bordered the Austro-Hungarian Empire and where smuggling was a means of subsistence for the peasant population. Having run afoul of a patrol of revenue agents, Tonle must seek refuge beyond the frontier in Central Europe, where year after year he...