The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios

By: Yann Martel

Narrated by: Barbara Caruso, David Ledoux, Johnny Stange, Jeff Woodman

Here are four unforgettable stories by Yann Martel, the New York Times best-selling author of Life of Pi. In the exquisite title novella, a very 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 20th century. In "The Time I Heard the Private Donald J. Rankin String Concerto with One Discordant Violin, by the American composer John Morton", a Canadian university student visits Washington, D.C., and experiences the Vietnam War and its aftermath through an intense musical encounter. In "Manners of Dying", variations of a warden's letter to the mother of an executed man reveal how each life is contained in its end. The final story, "The Vita Eterna Mirror Company: Mirrors to Last till Kingdom Come", is about a young man who discovers an antique mirror-making machine that runs on memories.

Written earlier in Martel's career, these tales are as moving as they are thought-provoking, as inventive in form as they are timeless in content. They display the startling mix of dazzle and depth that have made Yann Martel an international phenomenon.

©1993, 2004 Yann Martel (P)2004 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Short Stories/Collections

"These are stunning stories." (Booklist)
"Pathos is leavened with inventiveness and humor in this collection of a novella and three short stories....Richly satisfying." (Publishers Weekly)
"A small masterpiece....A serious and convincing work that demands to be read." (The Guardian [London])

Somewhere In The Middle

The author of these four stories is the same author of Life of Pi, and Beatrice and Virgil, both very good books. This book has 4 stories, two of which I enjoy and two others that were so, so. If you are looking for a short book, this book would be OK. Don't expect the same kind of writing he did on his two books I mentioned early. The last story I did chuckled a lot.

clearly early work

enjoyable for a Yann Martel fan, but definitely not on the level of Life of Pi or his other later work.

Well worth listening to

I Listened to these short stories a while ago and had to write a review when I read the previous 3 opinions! I find Yann Martels subject matter challenging to listen to - these short stories are also challenging subjects but wonderfully written and well worth a listen. They are thought provoking and a welcome change to much of the happy ever after literature that we have access too. Please give them a try.

Superb

An amazing author of the « life of pi » 4 unknown short stories that surprise u at every turn. The ideas are so surprising and the language so poetic and clear. The narrators r excellent.

Couldn't reel me in

"Life of Pi" is one of my favorite books of all time. I listened to it twice. The reader is outstanding. So, while I knew this would be completely different I was hoping to like it at least half as much. I just could not get drawn in. I could not finish it. (I hate not finishing books).