Yann Martel with his award-winning novel Life of Pi.
Canadian writer Yann Martel's new novel, his first after 2001's Man Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi, took a giant step toward reality this week with the announcement of a U.S. publishing deal. The as-yet unnamed novel will be published in the United States by Spiegel and Grau, a Random House imprint, according to Martel's Toronto agent Jackie Kaiser.
Kaiser said the book is "a story of an encounter between a writer and a taxidermist, and is both a metaphorical take on the Holocaust and an examination of our complicated relationship to animals."
It is scheduled to be published internationally some time in 2010.
Kaiser described the bidding for rights to publish the book, which also involved Life of Pi publisher Harcourt, as "vigorous," but declined to supply details. The book will be published domestically by Knopf Canada.