Life of Pi is at once the story of a young castaway who faces immeasurable hardships on the high seas, and a meditation on religion, faith, art and life that is as witty as it is profound. Using the threads of all of our best stories, Yann Martel has woven a glorious spiritual adventure that makes us question what it means to be alive, and to believe.

Yann Martel is the author of Life of Pi, the global bestseller that won the 2002 Man Booker Prize (among other honours) and was adapted to the screen in the Oscar-winning film by Ang Lee. He is also the author of the short story collection The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, the novels Self and Beatrice and Virgil, and the nonfiction work 101 Letters to a Prime Minister. Born in Spain in 1963, Martel studied philosophy at Trent University, worked at odd jobs — tree planter, dishwasher, security guard — and travelled widely before turning to writing. He lives in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with the writer Alice Kuipers and their four children.

Yann Martel's profile page

"A story so magical, so playful, so harrowing and astonishing that it will make you believe imagination might be the first step [to believing in God].... Every page offers something of tension, humanity, surprise or even ecstasy."
—The Times
"Pi is Martel's triumph. He is understated and ironic, utterly believable and pure.... The whole fantastic voyage carries hints of The Old Man and the Sea and the magic realism of Amado and Marquez and the absurdity of Beckett."
—The Globe and Mail
"Martel has created a funny, wise and highly original look at what it means to be human."
—Chatelaine
"A tale of disaster at sea coupled with miraculous survival--a boys' adventure for grown-ups."
—Margaret Atwood, The Sunday Times
"An impassioned defense of zoos, a death-defying trans-Pacific sea adventure à la Kon-Tiki, and a hilarious shaggy-dog story.... This audacious novel manages to be all of these."
—The New Yorker

Wow!

by fredamans