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September 12, 1943


Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka, on September 12, 1943. His most famous book is The English Patient, (1992) which won a Booker prize, and global fame after the movie was released. But he wrote in many genres. Ondaatje also wrote The Cat's Table (2011). This novel tells the adventures of a young boy, who is the same age Ondaatje was when HE left Sri Lanka. The title refers to a table on such ships where the least important passengers were seated for meals. A lucky thing for the hero, who at this table meets other lonely boys, also seated at the cat's table, not the captain's table. 

Ondaatje also edited a book of animal verse, The Broken Ark (1971). This volume was revised, and retitled, and republished in 1979, as A Book of Beasts. His most recent novel is Warlight, (2018).

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