2002 Booker Prize winner Yann Martel wins bogus Booker prize in Germany
Pie Lie | 04.04.2004 00:03 | Culture
Yann Martel the master writer cons his fans into thinking he won another Booker prize this time a "German booker".
Yann Martel or Manufacturing lies.
After Yann Martel’s Life of Pi was a booker prizewinner in 2002 reports surfaced in the media that the book borrowed heavily from the Brazil writer M. Scliar classic “Max and the Cats”. The two books' plots are premised on a boy marooned at sea with a tiger in a boat. Martel’s book has been a best seller ever since and Scliar has been strangely silenced since a plagiarism controversy broke out just after the Booker was announced. In 2003, “Max and the Cats” was published in Quebec. The book was hardly mentioned in the Montreal media when it came out and quickly disappeared a few weeks after its arrival in the bookstores. Scliar’s Montreal based publisher believes Martel’s publicists paid Sclair to avoid an unpleasant and costly controversy from tarnishing the best selling author impeccable reputation. Martel’s credibility as an author is further questioned by a new development. In an ad, which appeared in the Montreal daily Le Devoir livres or book section this Saturday (April 3rd-2004) there is a large photo of Martel and below it an assertion states that Martel, was a recipient of a “Deutch Booker” prize at the Leipzig book fair late last March. Besides the misspelling of Deutsch as “Deutch”, it appears that no such German booker prize exists. According to German radio report Martel was one of among four other “foreign authors” including Michael Moore of winning a German book prize at the Leipzig book fair. The ad in the Le Devoir misleads readers to think that Martel pulled off another stunning coup by being a recipient of second booker prize only this time in Germany. The “German Bucher prize” or book prize as it is known is not another Booker as the ad claims. The two prizes are hardly comparable in terms of their prestige. Martel’s publicists are misleading his fans creating the false impression that the Canadian bard has been singled out for another booker this time in Germany. Martel’s bogus and functioned prize appears to be another coup in a series of manufactured lies to spur his novels the “Life of Pi” sales. Martel’s German prize masquerading as another Booker is just another charade, which lends little creditability to an author whose booker winner novel is of questionable authenticity.
After Yann Martel’s Life of Pi was a booker prizewinner in 2002 reports surfaced in the media that the book borrowed heavily from the Brazil writer M. Scliar classic “Max and the Cats”. The two books' plots are premised on a boy marooned at sea with a tiger in a boat. Martel’s book has been a best seller ever since and Scliar has been strangely silenced since a plagiarism controversy broke out just after the Booker was announced. In 2003, “Max and the Cats” was published in Quebec. The book was hardly mentioned in the Montreal media when it came out and quickly disappeared a few weeks after its arrival in the bookstores. Scliar’s Montreal based publisher believes Martel’s publicists paid Sclair to avoid an unpleasant and costly controversy from tarnishing the best selling author impeccable reputation. Martel’s credibility as an author is further questioned by a new development. In an ad, which appeared in the Montreal daily Le Devoir livres or book section this Saturday (April 3rd-2004) there is a large photo of Martel and below it an assertion states that Martel, was a recipient of a “Deutch Booker” prize at the Leipzig book fair late last March. Besides the misspelling of Deutsch as “Deutch”, it appears that no such German booker prize exists. According to German radio report Martel was one of among four other “foreign authors” including Michael Moore of winning a German book prize at the Leipzig book fair. The ad in the Le Devoir misleads readers to think that Martel pulled off another stunning coup by being a recipient of second booker prize only this time in Germany. The “German Bucher prize” or book prize as it is known is not another Booker as the ad claims. The two prizes are hardly comparable in terms of their prestige. Martel’s publicists are misleading his fans creating the false impression that the Canadian bard has been singled out for another booker this time in Germany. Martel’s bogus and functioned prize appears to be another coup in a series of manufactured lies to spur his novels the “Life of Pi” sales. Martel’s German prize masquerading as another Booker is just another charade, which lends little creditability to an author whose booker winner novel is of questionable authenticity.
Pie Lie