The Brazilian author PAULO COELHO was born in 1947 in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Before dedicating his life completely to literature. His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions, etc.
His first couple of books failed to make any kind of impact. Then Paulo Coelho did the pilgrimage, and in the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist that became one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time; then the list of great books went on.
THE WINNER STANDS ALONE (2008)
THE WIZARD, FERNANDO MORAIS (2008)
THE WITCH OF PORTOBELLO (2006)
LIKE THE FLOWING RIVER (2006)
THE ZAHIR (2005)
ELEVEN MINUTES (2003)
THE DEVIL AND MISS PRYM (2000)
VERONIKA DECIDES TO DIE (1998)
THE MANUAL OF THE WARRIOR OF LIGHT (1997)
LOVE LETTERS FROM A PROPHET (1997)
THE FIFTH MOUNTAIN (1996)
BY THE RIVER PIEDRA I SAT DOWN AND WEPT (1994)
MAKTUB (1994)
THE VALKYRIES (1992)
O DOM SUPREMO: THE GREATEST GIFT (1991)
BRIDA (1990)
THE ALCHEMIST (1988)
THE PILGRIMAGE (1987)
To date, Coelho has sold a total of 100 million copies and, he was the most sold author in the world in 2003 with his book Eleven Minutes – even though at the time it hadn’t been released in the United States, Japan or 10 other countries!
The Alchemist was to be found in the 6th place of world sales in 2003. Eleven Minutes topped all lists in the world. The Zahir, published in 2005, was in third place of bestsellers according to Publishing Trends, after Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons.
The Alchemist was one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century. It reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 18 countries, and so far has sold 35 million copies. This book also brought the author in 2008 the Guiness World Record for most translated book in the world (67 languages).
Paulo Coelho got me into reading, just like Pink Floyd got me into music.
Respect l_o_l
www.paulocoelho.com.br