Brazilian best-selling writer Paulo Coelho sells a lot of books. But for the author of The Alchemist writing is more than just a means of making a living: "It is a way to self- awareness."
The author, who turned 60 on Friday, is considered a guru by his many fans, who include former US president Bill Clinton, singer Madonna, actress Julia Roberts and Japanese Nobel Prize for Literature winner Kenzaburo Oe. However, critics are less appreciative.
"Paulo Coelho sells as much as McDonalds or Coca Cola. So what? He can't even write properly," says literature professor Sirio Possenti. Coelho appears unconcerned by the criticism: "Writers write and critics criticise. That's the way it is." He keeps his writing simple - "As a copywriter and journalist I learned that you don't have to complicate things to be profound."
The numbers are indisputable - for over a decade now he has been the second or third biggest selling author world-wide. Only publishing stars like John Grisham, Dan Brown or Harry Potter author JK Rowling can surpass his sales figures.
Coelho, known in his native Brazil as "the Magician," has sold around 85 million books world-wide. His books, regarded as inspirational by many, have been translated into 60 languages and sell in 160 countries.
Yet he was a late starter in the writing field and had a turbulent early life. Born on the 24th of August 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, the teenage Coelho was a drug-user and rebel who was thrice committed to a mental hospital by his strictly Catholic and conservative parents. After that he travelled as a hippie through South America, Africa and Europe where he tried to establish himself as a playwright, screenwriter and journalist.
Back home in the 1970s he worked with Brazilian rock legend Raul Seixas. The two formed an anarchist movement, which led to imprisonment and torture at the hands of the ruling military regime.
All the time Coelho was on a spiritual search, dabbling in black magic and studying oriental religions. The turning point in his life came when he visited the memorial to the Dachau concentration camp at the start of the 1980s. There he had a vision of a man whom he later met at a cafe in Amsterdam.
The man advised Coelho to follow the pilgrimage trail of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Coelho did this in 1986, documenting his experiences in The Pilgrimage published a year later. Two more books followed - The Alchemist (1988) and Brida (1990) - and all three became best-sellers at the start of the '90s.
To date The Alchemist has sold more than 30 million copies. Coelho says he never rests: "I am always travelling, collecting experiences and ideas for my books." He churns out his books in an almost empty flat on the Copacabana in as little as four weeks and says he is mainly inspired by art and religion.
"The problem is that we experienced a science dictatorship in the 20th century. The impression was that we no longer had contact with our souls." The Brazilian is not only one of the world's best-selling authors but also an influential figure on the world stage - several times a speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, UNESCO has appointed him as a special advisor on its programme of intercultural dialogue.
Coelho has held talks with world leaders such as Clinton and the late Pope John Paul II and has won prizes and awards around the globe. The economics magazine Exame recently described him a world brand.
He doesn't plan to celebrate his birthday in a big way - he has said on his webpage that he plans a trip to the Lourdes pilgrimage in France. Him and his wife, artist Cristina Oiticica, own a house nearby. When asked if he is lucky, the author replies: "Luck is uninteresting. I want adventures, risks. The feeling that I'm alive."
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