Read This And Weep

Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho is a household name in most parts of the world. His new novel, Eleven Minutes, was a global best seller last year — everywhere but in the United States. According to Coelho’s publishers, his books have sold 50 million copies in 150 countries — sales figures comparable to those of John Grisham and J.K. Rowling.
But the Coelho phenomenon seems to stop at the shores of the American literary market, which remains stubbornly indifferent to foreign best sellers.

NPR catches up with Coelho here. I wasn’t sure if he was being facetious when he said,

” Madonna spoke about the book, and President Clinton was photographed reading [it],” Coehlo says. “I think it’s a matter of time.”

As if.
Related: Malaysian writers are told to put their work online to try to reach a wider audience.