| The Winner Stands Alone | |
| Title Orig: | O Vencedor está Só |
| Translator: | Margaret Jull Costa |
| Author: | Paulo Coelho |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Genre: | Novel |
| Release Date: | 2008 |
| Media Type: | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
| Pages: | 375 pp (paperback edition) |
| Isbn: | 978-0-00-731868-1 |
| Followed By: | Amor (Love) |
The Winner Stands Alone is a novel by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, first published in 2008 under the Portuguese title O Vencedor está Só.
The story is set at the Cannes Film Festival and roughly based upon the growing rise of what the author calls The Superclass.[1] While the reviewer in the Financial Times admitted that the book's background was well researched, he complained that its plotting was weak and the writing over-indulgent: "Coelho alights on all the obvious clichés…and repeats them at inordinate length".[2]
The loosely connected plot tells the story of several individuals: Igor, a psychopathic Russian mobile phone mogul; Ewa, formerly Igor's wife but now married to Hamid, a Middle Eastern fashion magnate; Jasmine, an African woman on the brink of a successful modeling career; American actress Gabriela, eager to land a leading film role; and an ambitious criminal detective, hoping to resolve the case of his life. The tale narrates the tension within and between the characters in a 24-hour period.