Self

Description

What is fiction? What is autobiography? How do the two meet? What is a man? What is a woman? How do the two meet? What is violence? What is happiness? How do the two meet? Yann Martel wrote Self, his first novel, to try to answer these questions.

Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963. After studying philosophy at university, he worked at odd jobs and travelled before turning to writing at the age of twenty-six. He is the author of the internationally acclaimed 2002 Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi, which was translated into thirty-eight languages and spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. His collection of short stories, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, and his first novel, Self, both received critical acclaim. Yann Martel lives in Saskatchewan, Canada.

"Let me tell you a secret: The name of the greatest living writer of the generation born in the sixties is Yann Martel." --" L'Humanite ""This is an exhilarating piece of fiction, as bold and original as anything I've read in a long time." -- Charles Foran, "Montreal Gazette ""A powerful story, punctuated by humour and tragedy in much the way real life is. -- Like Rohinton Mistry and Michael Ondaatje, Martel is a brilliant storyteller." -- "Vancouver Sun ""Superb -- Masterfully written. -- Martel has an almost otherworldly talent. -- He is a powerful writer and storyteller, almost a force of nature." -- "Edmonton Journal ""Yann Martel wonderfully represents the child's universe as a seamless whole...A penetrating, funny, original and absolutely delightful exploration.... [Martel] is a natural and often brilliant essayist and expositor, with a knack for aphorism and a rich cultural and literary foundation." -- "Globe and Mail ""So vigorous and confident and sure-footed...so compelling, that Self's education does end up being part of the reader's. Like all good educations, it is hard to forget, once absorbed." --" Toronto Star" "Engaging...There's some real insight here....Self is filled with things that sound a lot like the truth...now and again you encounter things that read so true, the sound they make resonates for hours, or even days. Self is still ringing in my ears." -- "Hour Magazine" "Mesmerizing...Linguistic treats dance across the page, and the subject -- a young person's life -- careens between the remarkably realistic and the wildly imaginative.... Martel is a gifted writer: his language saunters and soars.... Martel addresses important issues anddoes so creatively and seriously. He deserves to be read." --" Calgary Herald"