Yann Martel

you know, was $6,000.

I was way below the poverty line, living with roommates because I had to.

My rent and everything, including phone, there were no cell phones at the time, was, you know, $230 a month.

So I lived on very little, but I lived the life of a prince because I was in this lifeboat with this tiger trying to keep him alive.

So I had...

no money writing the story that I was thinking, who's going to read this?

It's about religion and everyone hates religion.

Your average downtown, you know, novel reader is not religious.

And then it's about zoos too.

And those are also jails, but jails for animals, religion, jails for people, zoos are jails for animals.

I'm taking on two jails.

Who's going to want to read this?

So I was convinced that I thought it was good.

I certainly liked it.

As your first reader, you obviously have to like your first, what you're writing.

I was, why would you be writing it?

So I liked it, but I thought this is,

No one's going to read this.

No one's going to read this.

And I was still to this day surprised at how people took it on.