LEAD: Yann Martel's book Life of Pi had the misfortune to be published on September 11th, 2001. That didn't stop it from selling millions of copies and winning the prestigious Booker prize. Fans of Martel will have to wait until 2009 for his next book, an essay and a novella about the Holocaust. In the meantime, an international competition has resulted in a beautiful illustrated version of Life of Pi.

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END CUE: "...published by Knopf Canada.".
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