Michael Ondaatje




Michael Ondaatje

author profile

born September 12, 1943
gender male
place of birth Sri Lanka

about this author

He was born to a Burgher family of Dutch-Tamil-Sinhalese-Portuguese origin. He moved to England with his mother in 1954. After relocating to Canada in 1962, Ondaatje became a Canadian citizen. Ondaatje studied for a time at Bishops College School and Bishop's University in Lennoxville, Quebec, but moved to Toronto and received his BA from the University of Toronto and his MA from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and began teaching at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. In 1970 he settled in Toronto. From 1971 to 1988 he taught English Literature at York University and Glendon College in Toronto.

He and his wife, novelist and academic Linda Spalding, co-edit Brick, A Literary Journal, with Michael Redhill, Michael...more

upcoming events

event: Michael Ondaatje on tour for book "Divisadero"
date: May 25, 2008 02:00PM
location: Kepler's, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA, United States
description: See Michael Ondaatje on tour promoting the book "Divisadero"

event from BookTour



books by Michael Ondaatje

combine editions
avg rating: 3.88 | 8108 ratings | 30 distinct works
Anil's Ghost: A Novel Anil's Ghost: A Novel (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 3.51 — 1159 ratings — published 2001
27 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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In the Skin of a Lion In the Skin of a Lion (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 3.98 — 721 ratings — published 2003
20 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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Divisadero Divisadero (Hardcover)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 3.65 — 694 ratings — published 2007
14 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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Running in the Family Running in the Family (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 3.95 — 458 ratings — published 1993
21 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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Coming Through Slaughter Coming Through Slaughter (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 4.04 — 408 ratings — published 2008
12 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected ... The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 4.05 — 290 ratings — published 1997
6 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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The Collected Works of Billy t... The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 4.10 — 285 ratings — published 2004
17 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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The Conversations: Walter Murc... The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 4.34 — 99 ratings — published 2004
9 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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Handwriting: Poems Handwriting: Poems (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 3.98 — 81 ratings — published 2000
12 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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Elimination Dance = LA Danse E... Elimination Dance = LA Danse Eliminatoire (Paperback)
by Michael Ondaatje
avg rating 4.50 — 18 ratings — published 1995
3 editions
my rating: didn't like itit was okliked itreally liked itit was amazing

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quotes by Michael Ondaatje

"We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves.

I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography - to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience. "
Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient)
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"He turns his back to the far shore and rows toward it. He can in this way travel away from, yet still see, his house....he feels he is riding a floating skeleton...Some birds in the almost-dark are flying as close to their reflections as possible."
Michael Ondaatje (Divisadero)
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"all this Beethoven and rain"
Michael Ondaatje (Running in the Family)
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