The Moon and the Bonfires Summary

Denied permission to visit nearby Venice by his military superior at a front line station known as Mestre, Alessandro boldly purloins a cap insignia from an officer as well as a courier bag and sets out for the city of canals by himself. Once in Venice, Alessandro spends four months' salary on an elaborate meal at a restaurant and propositions a beautiful young Italian woman who is speaking German to a bunch of elderly German women. She invites him to visit her in Paris. When he visits an art gallery, he gets into a heated argument with an academic about a painting by the Italian artist Giorgione. By gondolier, Alessandro locates the home of his friend Rafi's parents. He receives a letter mailed to them from his father telling him of the death of his...