The Monk and the Executive

I have noticed that every time I walk into a bookstore down here, a book entitled “O Monge e o Executivo” (The Monk and the Executive) is featured prominently. I had no idea, however, that it had such an interesting background. Check out this story from the Washington Post:

SAO PAULO, Brazil, Aug. 11 — James C. Hunter got a long-distance telephone call last year telling him that his book “The Monk and the Executive” was dominating the bestseller lists in Brazil. He was perplexed.

“I think you’ve got the wrong guy,” Hunter remembers telling the man on the other end of the line, who had identified himself as his Brazilian publisher. “I never wrote a book by that title.”

But in 1998 Hunter had published a novel in the United States called “The Servant.” Without his knowledge, a publishing company had translated the book into Portuguese, renamed it and witnessed a phenomenon unfold. The parable has held the No. 1 slot on Brazil’s overall bestseller lists for about 70 weeks, and Hunter has become something of a celebrity in a country that he rarely had given a thought to before. Another book of his — a motivational manual for business leaders — earlier this year bumped “The Da Vinci Code” out of the No. 2 spot on the lists.

“I never dreamed a book I wrote almost 10 years ago would be such a success down there,” said Hunter, 51, who has visited Brazil five times in the past year. “I knew very little about Brazil before — it just wasn’t in my realm of thinking at all. Now, it’s very prominent.”

U.S. Writer Finds Happy Ending in Brazil As Translated 1998 Novel Tops Sales Lists

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