The new novel from the internationally best selling Paulo Coelho After being tricked into moving to Geneva with the promise of being a dancer, Maria finds herelf working the streets as a prostitute for a year. During this time she develops a fascination for sex. This fascination becomes a passion for her work, a desire to make people happy and enjoy sex. But behind the dedication to her work is a deep aversion to the idea of falling in love. That is until she meets a painter who she is able to love, and make her dreams come true. Paulo Coehlo explores the themes of sex and love in his new novel.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Worst book I ever read!
Comment: Actually, I should be changing the title of my review - I am a bookworm, and I have read tons of great books. To call this the "worst book I ever read" implies it can be compared to those other books. But one shouldn't even "compare" it to other books... it is a badly written Mills and Boons type of romance trying to be "profound" at the same time. The characters are stick figures, the setting contrived, plot nonexistent, and dialog - the pits. There are no emotions whatsoever. "Sacred sex" comes up in the book - "plastic sex" would describe it better.
The author wanted to be "honest" (that's what he writes in his acknowledgment) and that makes the book sound so much more false than it already is. Can the author really write about the experiences of a prostitute honestly?
Most of the time, it sounds like a terrible self-help book, with words like 'choice', 'challenge' liberally thrown in.
What a waste of time reading this book (could only manage half of it, just to see how bad a book can get). Alchemist was ok, I didn't go gaga over it, but this is soooo bad, it is unbelievable. Don't bother reading it! I would have given it a negative rating if Amazon had that option.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: one of the best books ever!
Comment: This is a great book with everything you want. I've read some of the reviewers saying he writes too simple and therefor it is not a good book. But the simplicity is the strength of Coelho's writing. Makeing something like prostitution possible to grasp and comprahend and without laying out pages and pages of how horrible the situation is (with this I don't mean prostitution isn't a terrible thing - it truly is, just that it is nice to finally see a prostitute not as a helpless victim but just a womam trying to survive even though many in reality might be victims]. Read this book, you will not regret it.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: feels like he's writing for young adults
Comment: This is my second book by Paulo Coelho. I first read the Alchemist and I bought this book before I realized it was the same author. Based on reading these two books, I have to say that this guy writes as though his audience is young adults. The writing is flat and simplistic. If you like reading YA books, then you might like this. Otherwise, don't bother.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite
Comment: Eleven Minutes is not my favorite Paulo Coelho book. This is the story about a girl who fell into prostitution because she was poor and vulnerable and like everyone else in the world, looking for a better life. She fell into the trap. I didn't think this was any enlightening story about love and intimacy, more a story simply about sex.
Linda C. Wright
Author One Clown Short
One Clown Short

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The story of Maria, a young woman who becomes a prostitute"
Comment: This is a story about Maria, I have to say Maria does exist, so this is basically a real story with the names changed and probably some details too. Anyhow Maria suffered some heartbreak not a big deal really, but she decides that's enough and shuts her heart off, she is just 22 years old, she is bored of the life in her small town somewhere in the countryside in Brazil and travels to Rio de Janeiro where she meets a man who offers her employment as a samba dancer in Switzerland, she accepts, and the book unfolds in Switzerland, however wherever she goes, the life become monotonous. Maria is a woman who has high expectations of life and is no content with routine or mediocrity, the opinions of the people of her town are important to her too, she doesn't want to be a losser, whatever that is in her opinion, she wants to be economically succesful. She becomes a prostitute while in Switzerland, but you'll have to read the book for the whole story.
What I got out of this book is that people can do crazy things when they get fed up with routines and life doesn't meet their expectations, life can become monotonous and we can become disenchanted with reality, but we can be either constructive or destructive in search for a new meaning in life, however if we do mess up, there is always second chances and the gift of redemption.
This book is not for everybody, its content is very strong. It does has a positive message, and tips to deal with self destrutive behaviours.

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