John Li/Getty Images

Canadian author Yann Martel smiles for photographers after winning the Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2002 at the British Museum on October 22, 2002 in London, England. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is the UK's best known literary prize.

Pi Patel (Suraj Sharma) and a fierce Bengal tiger named Richard Parker must rely on each other to survive an epic journey in "Life of Pi."

Ang Lee's epic "Life of Pi" opens in theaters today, and it's already gotten some of the best reviews of any movie this year. It's 

Based on the best-selling novel published 11 years ago, translation from page to screen was a long and tedous job involving a number of writers and directors who stuggled with the project before Lee succeeded.

Watching, a little amused by it all, was the book's author, Yann Martel.

KPCC's Patt Morrison tracked him down at his home in Saskatchewan to find out more about how how he felt about the movie, and its strange journey to the screen.