Paulo Coelho Book summary

Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 24, 1947. Paulo was committed to a psychiatric facility when he was a teenager and later as a young adult. His parents did not wish for him to become a writer due to the uncertainty of the profession, and so they pushed him to pursue a study in law. He soon gave up studies and took up traveling. He gained financial success as he became a lyricist for popstars in brazil like Brazilian rock icon Raul Seixas. His work as a songwriter led to him being sentenced to prison since some of his lyrics were considered to be 'subversive'. However, Paulo refused to see himself as a victim and instead viewed these experiences as being instrumental in his development as a writer. He is said to have had a spiritual awakening during a five hundred-mile pilgrimage to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. The experience led to him seriously pursuing his career as a writer, and to the writing of his first book, The Pilgrimage, published in 1987. The book was not a commercial success, but Paulo continued to write. He wrote the Alchemist in 1988 and is said to have written it in two weeks. The first publishing of the Alchemist was with a small publisher that only produced a small number of copies. Paulo went to the Mojave desert for 40 days after the alchemist had failed to sell well. He believed it to be a great book, and so continued to search for a publisher. The book's second publishing led to huge success and it is now widely recognized as a contemporary classic.