New Releases by Yann Martel

Written earlier in Martel''s career, these four unforgettable tales are as moving as they are thought-provoking, as inventive in form as they are timeless.

The appearance of a young storyteller with a unique voice is cause for celebration. This memorable debut from Booker prize winner Martel, originally published in 1993, was hailed for its power and elegance on both sides of the Atlantic. Dealing with such themes as storytelling and illness, war and music, death and bureaucracy, science and sex, these tales are moving and thought-provoking, as inventive in form as they are timeless in content. They display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon. This edition features three of the stories from the original edition, including the remarkable novella The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, which won the prestigious Journey Prize, as well as three stories never before published in Britain. As a collection it looks set to further Martel''s reputation as one of the most interesting writers working in the world today.

The son of a zookeeper, Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. When they finally reach the coast of Mexico, Richard Parker flees to the jungle, never to be seen again. The Japanese authorities who interrogate Pi refuse to believe his story and press him to tell them "the truth." After hours of coercion, Pi tells a second story, a story much less fantastical, much more conventional--but is it more true?

Sixteen-year-old Pi Patel is stranded in a lifeboat on the Pacific Ocean with only a 450-pound Bengal tiger for company, and must learn to survive both tiger and ocean.