Yann Martel was born in Salamanca, Spain, in 1963 to Canadian parents. His parents were diplomats for the Canadian government, and Martel spent much of his youth in countries such as Costa Rica, France, and Mexico. He later attended Trent University in Ontario, where he earned a philosophy degree.
Martel performed various odd jobs, including planting trees and washing dishes, before becoming a full-time writer at the age of twenty-seven. His first book, a collection of stories titled The Facts Concerning the Helsinki Roccamatios, was published in 1993 to critical acclaim but little commercial success. His first novel, Self, fared equally poorly when it was published in 1996. In his Author's Note at the beginning of Life of Pi, Martel describes it this way: "Books lined the shelves of bookstores like kids standing in a row.....
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