Yann Martel Book Deal Worth $3 Million

Posted on July 21, 2009

The New York Times reports that Life of Pi author Yann Martel signed a $3 million deal with Random House. Random House purchased the rights to publish Martel's third novel at an auction. Martel's next novel will be an allegory about the Holocaust.

Martel told the Times, "I've noticed over the years of reading books on the Holocaust and seeing movies that it's always represented in the same way, which is historical or social realism. I was thinking that it was interesting that you don't have many imaginative takes on it like George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' and its take on Stalinism."

Martel also says his novel is a "an attempt to get a distillation" on the Holocaust. He says he wants to "see if there is a way of talking about the Holocaust without talking about it literally."

The Times article says Houghton Mifflin Harcourt also wanted the book and offered a seven-figure advance in early June but Martel and his agent were worried about the company's financial troubles. Martel says he thought the success of Life of Pi was a "freak" and that he isn't really feeling the pressure for his next book. His book will be widely read and critiqued so he is wise to ignore the pressure and focus on writing.

Update: Martel's holocaust novel is called Beatrice and Virgil. The book is named after two animal characters featured in the novel, Beatrice, a donkey, and Virgil, a monkey. The novel has received mixed reviews from critics.