The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios and Other Stories

by YannMartel (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1993

  $4.34

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.45

  This superb collection, hailed for its power, compassion and elegance, takes in the wide sweep of human experience. From the last hours of a condemned man, to the imaginary life of an AIDS patient, to the first performance of a bizarre new symphony, Yann Martel's stories are moving, thought-provoking and as inventive in form as they are timeless in content. They display the startling mix of dazzle and depth that has made him an international phenomenon.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.25

  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.

• New

  Paperback
  2005

  $16.88

  Here are four unforgettable stories by the author of Life of Pi. Written earlier in Martel's career, these tales display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon. Inventive in form and timeless in content, each story is moving and thought-provoking. A Canadian university student visiting Washington, D.C., experiences the Vietnam War through an intense musical encounter. Variations of a warden's letter to the mother of a man he has just executed reveal how each life is contained in its end. A young man's fascination with the mirror-making machine he finds in his grandmother's attic is juxtaposed with the reminiscences it evokes from his grandmother. And, in the exquisite title story, a young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the twentieth century.