The Zahir by Paulo Coelho

The Zahir by Paulo Coelho

"Superabundant talent, stunning originality, an elegant way with words... The Zahir is something more."

-- Los Angeles Times

The narrator of The Zahr is a bestselling novelist who lives in Paris and enjoys all the privileges money and celebrity bring. His wife of ten years, Esther, is a war correspondent who has disappeared along with a friend, Mikhail, who may or may not be her lover.

Was Esther kidnapped, murdered, or did she simply escape a marriage that left her unfulfilled? The narrator doesn't have any answers, but he has plenty of questions of his own. Then one day Mikhail finds the narrator and promises to reunite him with his wife. In his attempt to recapture a lost love, the narrator discovers something unexpected about himself.

A haunting and redemptive story about obsession, The Zahir explores its potential to fulfill our dreams, and to destroy them.

The life of PAULO COELHO continues to be the principal source of inspiration for his books. He's flirted with death, evaded crazy, dabbled with narcotics, endured torture, studied philosophy and religion, read voraciously, lost and rediscovered his faith, and experienced the pain and pleasure of love. He has discovered answers to the issues that everyone experiences while searching for his own place in the world. He believes that we all possess the essential strength to determine our own fate. Adultery, his most recent work, was a international bestseller.

His 1988 novel The Alchemist has sold over 65 million copies and has been hailed as an influence by Malala Yousafzai and Pharrell Williams, among others. Paulo Coelho's books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide. His work has been translated into 81 languages, making him the most widely read living author on the planet.