<DIV>Written in the style of great sagas, a majestic novel of a young man's journey to adulthood completes "Tschinag's dazzling … Mongolian triptych" (<I>TIME Magazine</I>).<BR><BR>The story begins with the arrival of triplets, born to a woman who has given birth three times previously, and buried each child shortly thereafter. This time the delivery goes well. That same night a family of five suffocates in their beds from the smoke of their home fire. Telling the tale is a young man, Dshurukuwaa, a child from the village, who comes to understand his unique place as a shaman and a storyteller in this far-flung world of the Tuvan people.<br><BR><I>The White Mountain</I> is Galsan Tshinag's wondrous final installment in a trilogy that began with <I>The Blue Sky</I> and continued in <I>The Gray Earth</I>. It chronicles the coming-of-age of a nomadic Mongolian boy as he searches for personal identity amidst the tension between the modern socialist education of Mongolia and the centuries-old traditions of his Tuvan people. As he develops his shamanic powers and poetic gifts, Dshurukuwaa discovers the tragedy and magic of love, life, poetry, and dreams. Gripping and lyrical, <I>The White Mountain</I> is sure to become a classic of world literature.</DIV>