The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

When you want something, the whole Universe conspires to help you realize your dream.

"...When I wrote The Alchemist, I was trying to understand the reason for the existence of life. Instead of writing a philosophical treatise, I decided to converse with the child inside my soul. To my surprise, this child was living inside millions of people around the world. With this book I wanted to share with my readers the questions which, precisely because they don't have an answer, make life a great adventure..." - Paulo Coelho

To offer a little insight to the enormity of his 1988 work entitled "The Alchemist", we are going to quote a little from Paulo Coelho's web site: "...The Alchemist was one of the most important literary phenomena of the 20th century. It reaches the first place in bestselling lists in 74 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)..."

Given to the arts, Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1947. The Brazilian now famous as an author, did not begin his fame in the world of literature. His public popularity actually stems back to his early work in theatre as either director or actor, as a popular lyricist and again in journalism.

Paulo Coelho worked for many famous Brazilian music performers providing song lyrics. Personalities he has worked for include Elis Regina, Rita Lee and most famously, over 60 songs with Raul Seixas.

Paulo Coelho was motivated by a "spiritual quest" which rose from his "hippy days" when "...he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions..."

His second solo work was the 1988 book titled "The Alchemist" which became one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time. In fact Paulo Coelho has sold over one hundred million copies of his books.

In 2003 Publishing Trends magazine declared he was planet earths most sold author for the year. The book "Eleven Minutes" – even though it still was unreleased in the United States, and many other countries! "The Alchemist" rated sixth for that year!

To date Paulo Coelho has received a string of prizes and decorations and offered membership on many boards. For example, he is a UN Messenger of Peace

"The Alchemist" is on Stuart Townsend's recommended reading list.

Stuart's recommended Reading:

author: "Paulo Coelho"

title: "The Alchemist"