Yann Martel's arrival as a young storyteller with a distinctive fictional voice is something to be celebrated. Martel's title story, which won the 1991 Journey Prize, has been widely praised and described as "unforgettable" and "a truly stunning piece of fiction." The story's human tragedy is portrayed with a minimalistic yet elegant style that leaves a lasting impact. Martel's other stories in the collection are equally engaging, with a remarkable immediacy and freshness.
 
Here are four unforgettable stories by the author of Life of Pi. Written earlier in Martel's career, these tales display that startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon.

Inventive in form and timeless in content, each story is moving and thought-provoking. A Canadian university student visiting Washington, D.C., experiences the Vietnam War through an intense musical encounter. Variations of a warden's letter to the mother of a man he has just executed reveal how each life is contained in its end. A young man's fascination with the mirror-making machine he finds in his grandmother's attic is juxtaposed with the reminiscences it evokes from his grandmother. And, in the exquisite title story, a young man dying of AIDS joins his friend in fashioning a story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, set against the yearly march of the twentieth century.