Psychology and Lifestyle: summary of the alchemist by paolo coelho written book

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Paulo Coelho (age 60) was born August 24, 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.
He and his wife Christina live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil or in Saint Martin, Hautes-Pyrénées, France.
YouTube Reporter am DLD 2008: Paulo Coelho

His works have been translated into 66 languages and edited in more than 150 countries. Paulo Coelho is, amongst other accolades:
Member of the Board of the Shimon Peres Center for Peace
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.
In June, 2007, Paulo Coelho announced on his internet blog The Experimental Witch Project. Impressed by the efforts of his fans to interpret his works, Paulo Coelho decided to harness their talents to make the collaborative film of The Witch of Portobello, his novel released in 2006-2007.
Marking the International Day of Peace, in September, 2007, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated Paulo Coelho as one of the United Nations Messengers of Peace raising global awareness of the world body's work and ideals. Paulo Coelho seeks to promote intercultural dialogue in his position as Messenger. Through his Institute which he founded with his wife, Christina Oiticica, he helps underprivileged members of Brazil's society.
"I gladly accept this responsibility and am committed to do my best to work towards a better future for the current and next generations," said Mr. Coelho, who also serves as Special Counsellor for Intercultural Dialogues and Spiritual Convergences for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

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His fascination with the spiritual quest dates back to his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions and mysticism.
As he confesses in an interview to Juan Arias, during that time he was introduced to the work of controversial English mystic Aleister Crowley, which influenced his collaboration with Raul Seixas. The influence extended not only to music, but also to plans for the creation of the "Alternative Society," which was to be an anarchist community in the state of Minas Gerais based on Crowley's premise: "'Do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the Law." The project was considered subversive by members of the Brazilian military, which imprisoned all prospective members of the group. Coelho is reported to have been tortured during his imprisonment.
After a supernatural experience, described in later on his book The Valkyries, Coelho left the society.
Later in Holland he met a person (whom he would refer to as "J" throughout The Valkyries, The Pilgrimage and his website "Warriors of Light online") who changed his life and Coelho was driven towards Christianity. He said he became member of a Catholic group called Regnus Agnus Mundi, with J as its leader. However, the existence of the group is unverified since his own works are the only source while the Latin name is unverified. In 1986 he walked along the Road of Santiago, an ancient Spanish pilgrimage and his book The Pilgrimage describes his final initiation.
The book has been praised by different personalities ranging from Nobel Prize winner Kenzaburo Oe to the singer Madonna, who considers it one of her favourite books. It has equally inspired many projects – such as a musical in Japan, theatre plays in France, Belgium, USA, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland. It is also the theme of two symphonies (Italy and USA) and had its text illustrated by the famous French artist Moebius (author of the sceneries for the Fifth Element and Alien).

In 1982 Coelho published his first book, Hell Archives, which failed to make any kind of impact. In 1985 he contributed to the Practical Manual of Vampirism, although he later tried to take it off the shelves since he considered it “of bad quality”. In 1986, Paulo Coelho made the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, an experience later to be documented in his book The Pilgrimage.
In the following year, Coelho published The Alchemist, which is based on Jorge Luis Borges' Tale of Two Dreamers, which in turn was based on a tale from The Book of One Thousand and One Nights. Slow initial sales convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best-selling Brazilian books of all time. It has sold more than 41 million copies worldwide and has been translated into some 66 languages. It is also a movie-in-progress produced by Laurence Fishburne, who is a fan of Coelho.
Paulo Coelho Interview

Coelho has sold over 100 million books in over 150 countries worldwide and his works have been translated into 66 languages (Goodyear, Dana (2007-05-07), "The Magus", The New Yorker. He has received numerous literary awards from a variety of countries, including La Légion d'honneur (France), Grinzane Cavour (Italy). In addition, he has written Maktub, which is a collection of his best columns published in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, The Manual of the Warrior of Light, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept, The Fifth Mountain, Veronika Decides to Die, The Devil and Miss Prym, Eleven Minutes, Like The Flowing River and The Valkyries. Despite the popularity of Coelho's works in Iran, his 2005 novel The Zahir was banned there, with 1,000 copies being confiscated, but a week later it appeared again in bookstores, according to his publisher Caravan. His latest book, The Witch of Portobello was released in 2006 – 2007.
He also adapted The Gift (Henry Drummond) and Love Letters of a Prophet (Khalil Gibran).
His books have appeared on bestseller lists in countries not only in Brazil but in the UK, the United States, France, Germany, Iran, Canada, Italy, Israel, Finland, Serbia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Cuba, Poland and Lithuania. He is the all time best-selling Portuguese language author.
Coelho writes a weekly column published in more than 45 countries, including O Globo in Brazil, Akşam, a Turkish newspaper, and Freizeit, a weekly supplement published by the Austrian Kurier.