Buzzati, Dino (1906–72), Italian writer, playwright, poet, painter, and journalist. Symbolic surrealism and the fantastic are the distinctive traits of Buzzati's writing, from his first work Bernabò delle montagne (Bernabo of the Mountains, 1933), to his best novel Il deserto dei tartari (The Tartar Steppe, 1990), to his countless amusing and moving tales which reveal the often absurd or banal sources of anguish, fear, doubt, and wickedness. His most popular works include Il colombre (1966), Le notti difficili (Restless Nights: Selected Stories of Dino Buzzati, 1971), and I dispiaceri del re (The King's Regrets, 1982). La famosa invasione degli orsi in Sicilia (The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily, 1945) is a tale for young readers.

— Maria Nicolai Paynter

The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales. Copyright © 2000, 2002, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.