About the book: 2010 / “The Magician” is the life story of a writer whose books have sold more than 100 million copies around the world. Before he became a world-famous bestselling author, Paulo Coelho lived many different lives. He was treated with electric shock in a mental hospital, took drugs, tried unconventional sex, summoned the devil, sat in prison, wrote songs and finally, in 1986, walked the sacred “Way of Santiago,” the road of medieval pilgrims. Coelho described his spiritual experience in his first book, The Diary of a Magician. The novel The Alchemist, published the following year, brought the author international fame and acquired the status of a world classic. And now the reader can get acquainted with the life story of such a popular and world-read writer. “Paulo Coelho de Souza was born on the rainy morning of August 24, 1947, on St. Bartholomew’s Day. At five minutes past twelve, the doctor, who was literally unscrewing him from his mother, heard a faint crunch. It was as if a pencil had cracked—the newborn’s thin collarbone could not withstand the pressure of the forceps. But it hardly mattered: the boy was dead. The grief-stricken parents asked to call someone so that the stillborn could be given unction. But suddenly a faint groan was heard - like a kitten meowing. The baby was alive. Difficult childbirth was the first challenge that fate threw at this baby. He accepted it…»