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Dear Readalong Readers,

I’m delighted you’ve taken on Life of Pi. Writing the novel was a joy. The research, which I did in India and then at the library of McGill University in Montreal, thrilled me. Then came the writing. For four years my office was a lifeboat and in it, lurking, was a tiger I had not only to feed and keep alive but to give meaning to. Odd as it might sound, this story with such seemingly disparate elements – a religious boy, a tiger, a lifeboat – came together quite easily. Only one scene – the one with the blind Frenchman – changed, and that was only a question of making it shorter. The novel’s success with readers has been an equal joy. I toured and was grateful to meet so many of my readers, many of whom shared insights and reactions with me. I was constantly amazed at the varied interpretations readers had of the novel. I shouldn’t have been. Art works because it is participatory: the writer throws some words onto the page and then it’s the reader who brings them to life. So thank you for bringing Life of Pi to life.

Yours truly,
Yann Martel