Product Description

Shining a light on a country where the commingling of cultures has created a people who are unafraid to embrace life. Just a few of the many stories and notable authors readers will find in this book are "A Place for Living" by Bill McKibben, "Opium of the People" by Alma Guillermoprieto, "On the Banks of the Solimoes" by Joe Kane, and many more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #812123 in Books
• Published on: 1997-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 433 pages

From the Publisher
Brazil is a land of superlatives. It has the biggest freshwater fish and the rivers to go with them, the largest jungle and the greatest number of species. It makes the world's best music and throws the world's wildest party. This land where primeval meets modernity teems with life -- and what makes life worth living -- and nothing is done in moderation. Travelers' Tales Brazil shines a light on a country where the commingling of cultures -- of indigenous tribes, the Portuguese colonists, the West Africans -- has created a people who are unafraid to embrace life. The Brazilians have a word -- saudade -- that means a longing for what could have been. It's a feeling as universal as the sun, but in Brazil no one, including the traveler, allows saudade to interfere with the moment. For the traveler, though, it's a feeling that lingers long after leaving Brazil. Just a few of the many stories and notable authors you will find in the book: "A Place for Living," by Bill McKibben; "Opium of the People," by Alma Guillermoprieto; "Bodo Sing-Along," by Joe Kane; "Alone and Unarmed," by Petru Popescu; "Belem Takes Its Time," by Augusta Dwyer; and "The Guy from Ipanema," by John Krich.

Customer Reviews

Good Collection, but Uneven
The Travelers' Tales are just that - fifty stories mostly written by occasional or short-term visitors to Brazil. While it's often fun to tune in to their wonder and amazement at the things they discover, there are occasional disappointments. The stories range in quality from the very strong (Alma Guillermoprieto discussing evangelism, Bill McKibben on the orderly city of Curitiba, Alexander Shankland on Canudos); to the so-so (Downs Matthews on the nineteenth century flight of American confederate sympathizers to Brazil - a good topic but written in a silly sappy prose); to the downright unreadable (Christopher Hall on Candomble, Rachel C. Derrick searching for Africa in Salvador, John Krich on Ipanema, and Gilbert Phelps' pointless and themeless final chapter).

Predictably, most of the stories discuss Rio, the Amazon, and Salvador. Useful and colorful, no doubt, but the gems are those that get off these well-chronicled paths and surprise a reader with something really new. Like most travel-style writers, many here offer their own novice attempts at Portuguese words, often amusingly wrong, but earnest. Brazil is a vast, shocking, wonderful country. This book is fairly successful at presenting different facets and different perspectives. Perhaps it's not the only book you'd want to read if you were going to spend some time in Brazil, but it's among the handful that would help you understand the people and the place.

So much more fun and interesting than a typical travel guide
I so enjoyed reading about the people and places of Brazil in this book. I am hooked on "Travelers' Tales" books now. I am excited to have a deeper knowledge now of the heart of this place in preparation for my trip there. The short story format is ideal for me and the variety of entries paints a colorful picture. Anyone traveling to Brazil should pick this up for before and after the trip.

Back to Brazil
After returning home from a 10 day missions trip to Brazil I found myself scouring the book shelves for books on Brazilian culture and history. The stories captured in Travelers' Tales : Brazil, truly brought me right back to Brazil. Each tale awoke a memory, a scent, a feeling that could only be brought on by "saudade". I look forward to my next trip to this rich country armed with a book full of ideas for my next adventure.