The Alchemist - Author

Here I am again with a new book. This time, I chose for you the Paulo coehlo's best seller; "The Alchemist". I start, as usual with the author biography, then I'll move to the book summary and review.

Paulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.

Biography

Paulo Coelho was born in August 24, 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. When he was child, he attended a Jesuit school.

As a teenager, Coelho’s dream was to become a writer but his family wanted him to be an engineer and to make him change his mind, they committed him to a mental institution.

After being released at the age of 20, Coelho enrolled in law school and abandoned his dream of becoming a writer, but one year later, he dropped out and became a hippie. He then started travelling around the world and became immersed in the drug culture of the 1960s.

Upon his return to Brazil, he worked as a songwriter. In 1974, Coelho was arrested for "subversive" activities by the ruling military government, who viewed his lyrics as left-wing and dangerous.

Coelho also worked as an actor, journalist, and theatre director before pursuing his writing career.

Personal life

Coelho is married to Christina Oiticica and split his time between Europe and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a Roman Catholic and he attends Mass regularly.

In 1996, Coelho founded the Paulo Coelho Institute, which provides aid to children and elderly people with financial problems.

Occupations

• UNESCO special counsellor for “Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences”

• Board Member of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

• Member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters

• Member of INI International Advisory Council – HARVARD INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION INITIATIVE

• Member of the Board, Doha Center of Media Freedom

Honors

• In September 2007, Coelho was named a Messenger of Peace to the UN.

• Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (France)

Awards

On May 9, 2006, in Sofia, Bulgaria, Paulo Coehlo was awarded by the President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov the "The Honorable Award of the President of the Republic".

Bibliography

In total, Paulo Coehlo has published 30 books, the most famous are:

• The pilgrimage - 1987  
• The alchemist – 1988  
• Brida - 1990  
• Maktub - 1994  
• Veronika Decides to Die - 1998  
• Eleven minutes - 2003  
• The Zahir - 2005  
• The Witch of Portobello - 2006  
• The winner stands alone - 2008  
• Aleph – 2010

Source

Wikipedia