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Books That Made a Difference to Andie MacDowell
As told to Karen Holt
O, The Oprah Magazine  |  From the February 2011 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine
Life of Pi book cover Photo: J Muckel/Studio D
Life of Pi
By Yann Martel



"God was going to love him, no matter what he had to do to survive. He was on the trip with him," says MacDowell of Martel's popular fable about a 16-year-old boy's harrowing journey on a lifeboat with a 450-pound tiger. "This book makes you wonder: Has Pi actually been on a fantastic adventure, or is the truth far more realistic?... My older sister wanted to believe the fantasy. I was kind of surprised by that, because she's so doggone bright. For me, there was no way the story could be real. It had to be a way to deal with something that was impossible to deal with. That's what this book does: It tells a painful story as a fantasy because the reality is too brutal."

MacDowell's next pick: Night by Elie Wiesel
Printed from Oprah.com on Sunday, May 26, 2013
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