Paulo Coelho was born in Brazil and has become one of the most widely read authors in the world today. Prior to his career as a bestselling author, he was a playwright, theatre director, hippie and popular songwriter for some of Brazil's most famous POP stars. Renowned for The Alchemist, he has sold more than 31 million books worldwide and has been translated into 51 languages. He is the author of The Alchemist, The Pilgrimage, The Valkyries, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain and Veronika Decides to Die.
Paulo Coelho: Confessions of a Pilgrim offers readers a chance to get to know Paulo Coelho's dramatic, inspirational life story for the first time. Coelho has always been a
non-conformist, constantly searching for new paths and savouring both the good and the bad that came his way. After an unorthodox career path, he turned to writing and has
become one of the most successful authors in the world. This intimate portrait by Juan Arias offers Paulo's compelling first-hand accounts of his experiences of:
Being confined to a mental institution as a young man simply because he was an artist; Kidnapping and torture by paramilitaries; Encounters with block magic and drugs; An epiphany at Dachau and a vision he hod of his own death; The nature of writing and the spiritual quest.
