Yann Martel

Known for what People reviewer Ellen Shapiro dubbed "literary pyrotechnics.... clever plotting and rich humanism," Canadian novelist Yann Martel has been heralded as "the harbinger of a fresh wave of literary invention from a nation already famous for its fiction" according to Glasgow Herald contributor Rosemary Goring. On the strength of the widely praised novel Life of Pi, Martel was quickly raised into the ranks of Canadian literary luminaries Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, and Margaret Atwood. By 2002 his acclaim had reverberated across the Atlantic; Life of Pi added Great Britain's prestigious Booker Prize to its many honors and American critics were clamoring for more. Two years later Martel's short-story collection The Facts behind the Helsinki Roccomatios, was released in...