Author(s): Yann Martel

Modern & Contemporary Literature

'I was hundreds of miles from landfall, if not over a thousand miles. I couldn't swim such a distance, even with a lifebuoy. What would I eat? What would I drink? How would I keep the sharks away?' After the tragic sinking of a cargo ship, a solitary lifeboat remains bobbing on the wild, blue Pacific. The only survivors from the wreck are a sixteen year-old boy named Pi, a hyena, a zebra (with a broken leg), a female orang-utan - and a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. The scene is set for one of the most extraordinary and best-loved works of fiction in recent years.

About the author:
Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963, of Canadian parents. Life of Pi, his second novel, was published to international acclaim in over forty countries, won the 2002 Booker Prize and has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. He has also written a number of collections of short stories, including The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios. His third novel, Beatrice and Virgil was published by Canongate in 2010. Yann Martel lives in Saskatchewan, Canada.