The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams and Reaching Your Destiny

Robin Sharma’s The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, originally published in 1999, is a self-help book that fits snugly into the “business fable” pool of literature, which includes books containing motivational advice intended primarily to assist people in their careers or to improve specific aspects of the workplace, like management culture. This book tells the story of Julian Mantle, a workaholic lawyer who leaves his career to go on a journey of discovery in India. During his time there, he learns ancient wisdom from a village of sages and brings this wisdom back to John, his former junior colleague walking the same dangerous path as Julian before his transformation. 

Sharma, much like his character creation Julian, was a lawyer until his mid-20s when he began publishing successful self-help books. In addition to being an author, Sharma is an in-demand motivational public speaker who has provided training to employees of some of the leading tech companies and universities in the United States, including Microsoft and Harvard.

This guide refers to the 1999 paperback edition of The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, published by HarperSanFrancisco.

Summary

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari opens dramatically with workaholic lawyer Julian collapsing in the middle of the courtroom during a trial.