Yann Martel list within the first month of its release. Martel has said in a number of interviews that Dante's "Divine Comedy" is the single most impressive book he has ever read. In talking about his most memorable childhood book, he recalls "Le Petit Chose" by Alphonse Daudet. He said that he read it when he was ten years old, and it was the first time he found a book so heartbreaking that it moved him to tears. Yann Martel Yann Martel (born 25 June 1963) is a Spanish-born Canadian author best known for the Man Booker Prize-winning novel "Life of Pi",
Middlesex (novel) him about winning the award, Eugenides was dubious, noting that "[i]t seemed very unlikely that he would be the messenger of such news." At the time, Eugenides was with the Canadian author Yann Martel who confirmed the photographer's words after checking on the hotel's computer. A waiter brought champagne to Eugenides, and Greek women started kissing him. When journalists called Eugenides, he declined to take their calls, saying in an interview later that he wanted to "celebrate the moment instead of leaping immediately into the media maelstrom." The novel received the Ambassador Book Award, Spain's Santiago de Compostela Literary Prize,