Adventures of a Gringa

The Brazilian Saga

You can read hundreds of news stories and dozens of books about Brazil's global rise as an economic powerhouse, but I've read few books that come close to putting in such sharp perspective how far the country has come as with Saga brasileira, by one of Brazil's most famous economy reporters, Miriam Leitão. There's a possibility you have opinions on Leitão, but either way, it's worth putting them aside for the sake of the book. While I think it could potentially be interesting for Brazilians, especially for econ nerds and those who were born after the worst of the economic crises, it may not be that much of a revelation. But for foreigners who work with Brazil, live in Brazil, or have any sort of interest or stake in Brazil, you really should read this book.

First, just be warned that it is heavy on lots of economic nitty gritty details, though fortunately there are interesting narratives in between. The other thing to know is that there were occasionally times where on one shoulder, there was a little Alex Castro, rolling his eyes and muttering "Classe média sofre," and on the other, a little Reinaldo Azevedo, yelling in all caps "QUE PAÍS É ESSE?!" Because there are some parts where, for example, the author tells anecdotes about families who suffered from the country's economic woes that you don't feel terribly sympathetic to, such as a couple who couldn't take their honeymoon in Bariloche and instead had to take it in Brazil--a story she mentions not once, but twice. This is a book written by someone of privilege for people of privilege, and that's very clear, so you just have to take it in stride. But there are also some shocking tales, such as grocery stores running out of stock during they hyperinflation years, or of just how disorganized the country's federal financial institutions used to be, that are quite eye-opening. And the last thing to keep in mind is that as far as non-fiction goes it's not the greatest; the narrative doesn't always seem to be coherent and sometimes skips around a bit, but this is the type of book you can read gradually in little chunks. (Also, it's in Portuguese, and I don't think there's an English translation available.)

The moral of the story is that Brazil's economic rise stems from finally succeeding in creating a stable currency, a long-fought battle after years of hyperinflation and 8 different currencies since the 1940s, as well as the battle for economic coherence and reforms in the federal government. Leitão touches on other important factors as well, including a drop in fertility and the creation of key social programs. She also puts Brazil's rise in historic perspective, demonstrating that it was a much longer process than commonly belived and that the country experienced other consumer booms in the recent past. But it really is worth dedicating a book to the fight for a country's currency, a fascinating and sobering tale that really is foreign to those of us who haven't experienced hyperinflation.

For Americans in particular, the concept of money is something practically sacred; despite the 2008 crisis and other economic busts, it's pretty much unthinkable to imagine using anything else other than the dollar. But in my lifetime, Brazil has gone through six currencies, from the cruzeiro (1970-1986), to the cruzado (1986-1989), to the cruzado novo (1989-1990), back to the cruzeiro (1990-1993), to the cruzeiro real (1993-1994), and finally, to the real. The story of how Brazil "won" its currency and beat hyperinflation, as well as the brilliant plan to make the switch to the real, really is an incredible saga.

It's hard to imagine what it was like during the time of triple-digital inflation, but Leitão gives you a pretty good perspective. Housewives would have to use price tables to figure out the values of food at the supermarket, which during some periods changed daily. In 1993, the minimum wage was initially set at 4,693,800 in cruzeiro real, but was the equivalent of US$64. Because inflation rose so quickly, "people lost the notion of the connection between the value and the price," Leitão explains. She recalls buying a VCR for 470,000 cruzados in 1988 and buying another VCR for 18,000 cruzeiro real in 1993, and of having credit card bills of over 1 million in 1985. "We lived in the Middle Ages," one businessman remembers. Meanwhile, a bank manager who was arrested when her branch ran out of cash in 1990 commented to Leitão, "Brazil hasn't had a war? It has, yes--a psychological war. We all participated in the war of the economy."

Leitão closes the book quite beautifully, explaining that it's not only important to remember and reflect on Brazil's economic past, but to learn from how Brazil treats its history. "Brazil has a strange tendency to erase the brightest colors of its history, as if it needed sepia tones to recognize itself as [having] a cordial people. But our merit is another: to overcome our traumas, even when they are difficult and painful." She warns that one of the real enemies is complacency, and that it was a mistake to accept rising levels of inflation, just as it is a mistake to accept corruption today. "We lost the notion of value and price in the economy during hyperinflation, like today we are losing the notion of values and preserving the quality of our democracy. We are not condemned to clientelism...nor to corruption."

Because there's so much to discuss from the book beyond hyperinflation, I'll come back to it later in separate posts about specific topics about Brazil's transformation.

Interview With Alex Castro

This week, I had a chance to catch up with Alex Castro, one of my favorite Brazilian bloggers. He has a  keen and critical eye for some of the most sensitive social issues in Brazil, including racism, machismo, and domestic workers. After living abroad, he also writes with an fascinating perspective on social differences between the United States and Brazil. He writes his own blog, Liberal Libertário Libertino, as well as contributing to Papo de Homem. He's also written several books, including short stories and novels. He also was one of the founders of the hit Tumblr Classe Média Sofre, a crowdsourced blog that pokes fun at Brazil's middle class. It's become a cultural phenomenon in Brazil, falling somewhere between Lamebook and White Girl Problems, but providing more insight into social idiosyncracies. 

We chatted about his return to Brazil from New Orleans, emblematic of Brazil's increasing reverse brain drain, his various projects, and his thoughts on Brazil's changing role in the world.

What were you doing abroad?

I was living in New Orleans. I was a Ph.D. candidate at the department of Spanish & Portuguese at Tulane University. As such, part of my duties included teaching classes on the Spanish and Portuguese languages, plus the odd Brazilian literature and culture classes. My dissertation is about slavery (or the lack thereof) in Brazilian 19th century literature.

‪Can you tell me about why you decided to move back to Rio from New Orleans?‬

I came back because a man who is a living god to me once said: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself, / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. // I loafe and invite my soul, / I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. ... / I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, / Hoping to cease not till death." And even though he has never died, because he cannot die, I know for a fact that he suffered a stroke 18 years after writing those words.

So, when I turned 37, last year, still in perfect health, and hoping not to cease till death, and not knowing how long would I have before my heart attack, I decided to return home and live the life of a writer. Because if even HE died, what hope can I have? On the contrary, I have to RUN and LIVE. I realized that I was and had always been a Brazilian writer. So even though I had lived in New Orleans for 7 years and could write in English, I had never felt the urge to write to New Orleanians about Rio but, on the contrary, I was always coming up with new things about New Orleans and the U.S. to tell Brazilians. I realized that, in my head, I was always talking and writing to Brazilians. They were my core audience, and so it made no sense to stay away.

Throughout the years, there had always been events and stuff that I was invited to and couldn't attend because I was in New Orleans. None of them by themselves were a major deal, but the career of a minor independent author is made of baby steps, so I felt my incipient (actually, non-existent) career was at a standstill. Now, for example, I'm going to Belo Horizonte in April for a roundtable about e-books. So I came to Rio and I'm now making a living as a writer, writing and editing for Papo de Homem, translating for Editora Record, and trying to finish my dissertation and my novel.

Tell me about your book, Onde Perdemos Tudo.

It's actually an old book, written in the early 90s. But I think it withstood the test of time, so here I'm publishing it. It is the only one of my books to be actually published by an actual publishing house. All my other books were self-published. It's composed of five short stories about loss, all kinds of loss, from losing a friend to losing your wife, or your career.

Why'd you go the self-publishing route with the other books and the publishing house route with this one?

It wasn't a choice. Nobody wanted to publish the other ones. For Onde Perdemos Tudo, I had a publisher interested in my work and an able literary agent who got her interested. Still, unless you're a best seller, one can make a lot more money self-publishing.

How has the book been received?

It's very hard to break through. It has been positively reviewed in blogs here and there, but nothing in the mainstream press. It's as if the book has never existed. But I have a loyal following of readers, and so it keeps selling. It can be frustrating, but it's the only way. Baby steps, as I always say. But at least now I'm here to network and promote the books.

In Papo de Homem and your blog Liberal Libertário Libertino, you write a lot about racism and machismo with a critical eye. Why are these issues important to you?

That's a very good question. I really don't know. I guess I had a very very privileged, sheltered upbringing, something that I only realized very late in my adult life. So I felt the need to.... give back? Finally look at other people other than myself? That sort of thing. Also, the American academic environment was the main catalyst, that's for sure. If I had stayed, maybe I'd be reading Veja. I remember I rather liked Diogo Mainardi, if you can believe that.

You have a really unique perspective that's sometimes hard to find in Brazil, particularly with racism. How did your views on that issue evolve?

People say that I'm bringing racial conflct into Brazil and I argue, Yes! We need more racial confrontation! One of the major problems in Brazil is the fact that we never "confront" the issues.

You've also written quite a bit about domestic workers, which is also something of a taboo topic in Brazil. What got you interested in this?

Well, actually it was my interest in slavery. I think domestic workers, as the profession has established itself in Brazilian culture, is a direct relic of slavery. Only a former unapologetically slave-owning country such as we are could ever have such a slavery-like institution as our live-in maids. So it is a bit of the past alive in our daily lives up to today.

On the subject of your blogs, given your perspective and knowledge of these issues, why is it more important for Brazilians to be your audience, rather than an international one?

It's the other way around. It's not that talking to Brazilians is more important than talking to an international audience, but rather that I feel I have something to tell, teach, show to a Brazilian audience that I don't have to an international one.

Let's talk about Classe Média Sofre, but I noticed you don't seem to have your name on the blog, at least not very visibly. Is there a reason for that?

Well, for starters, it is a collective and collaborative enterprise, so it's not mine per se but I'm one of the founders and co-creators. Since then, everyone else has left, other people have gotten involved and left again, and now, pretty much, I'm the only one left managing the business. But the site still depends of the anonymous collaboration of hundreds of people every day. I'm more of a curator than anything else. I try to keep it faithful to its original vision, but mostly the only reason I'm the visible face of it is because I'm a writer, so I need the visibility and it does help me to sell some books. Actually, if it weren't for that, the site would either still be 100% anonymous or, more likely, I'd have gotten bored and left with everyone else. Still, it's the one thing I've done that I'm actually proud of.
 
Can you tell me about how the blog got started, and why you thought it would be worthwhile?

Its major inspiration was White Whine and Louis C K, when he says something like this. So a friend and I had the idea, and we started looking for examples. They were so numerous that it took us a day to fill several pages, and two days later we were already receiving more contributions than we could handle. On day 4, I kid you not, on day FOUR, we got our first complaint that the tumblr was no longer as good as it once was.

It caught on pretty fast.

Yes, it was amazing. And people were already self-censoring their worst bullshit pretty fast too. It was inspiring.

The blog's been featured around the web and it's literally become a cultural reference. Why do you think it hit a nerve?

Well, on one hand, lots of people feel really really defensive about it. They take the site as a personal attack to them. On the other hand, for several other people, the blog gave them their first way to vent their frustration at some of the most whiny, elitist comments their friends make. You can bet people will say that there's nothing more classe media sofre than giving this interview in English! I especially love it when people accuse us of being "middle class too," and of course we are. What did they think we were? Millionaires? Favelados?

What's the absolute worst thing you've posted on there?

There can be no worst. You can always sink lower.

Ok, so your favorite?

"Pior dia da minha vida: acabou o chocolate." [Worst day of my life: the chocolate is gone.] Simple yet perfect.

Can you tell me your thoughts on the complexo de vira-lata and the obsession with everything foreign/in English?

Brazilians are obssessed with Brazil to an extent that only Americans are obssessed with the U.S. We are truly kindred peoples, yours and mine. I'm pretty sure, given the power, Brazilians would have done every single thing Americans have. Brazilians are as proud, egocentric, and naive as Americans. We have our own version of manifest destiny (the Bandeirantes), etc.

I've never seen any people as interested about what people are saying about them abroad. In a way, in Classe Média Sofre, we talk about both sides of this coin. So, in a very schizophrenic way, what comes from abroad can seem very important or not at all important. And of course, I'm guilty as charged, because I travelled, and I studied abroad, and I could have studied anything, I could have dedicated myself to ancient Greece or pure mathematics, but here I am thinking about Brazil and writing about Brazil. It's kind of a curse, but it was also my choice, so I don't in any way exclude myself from this. I'm part of it.

Brazil is undergoing so many changes in terms of its place in the world. Is there a chance it could become more insular and inward looking like in the U.S., or is this fascination with other countries here to stay?

I think Brazil is in fact getting more powerful as a country, so other countries will tend to seek Brazil's opinion or support more often, and consequently, Brazilian politicians and statesmen will be forced to be more versed in international affairs than their predecessors, and consequently, the Brazilian voter as well. You can see that starting. These past years, Honduras, Cuba and Iran were more talked about, even during elections, than I had ever seen before. In elections before 2010, foreign affairs had never had any relevance at ALL.

When I started teaching Portuguese in the U.S. in 2005, most of my students were there because they had a Brazilian signficant other, or a Brazilian parent, or liked bossa nova and City of God. Period. When I left, in 2011, most of my students were actually seeking employment, business or research opportunities in Brazil. There were lawyers and business majors; most of them had not watched City of God, but they knew about Petrobras, pre-salt and biofuel. It was a complete revolution in less than 6 years. Several  of my former students are now either working and living in Brazil, or living in the U.S. but working as "Brazilian liasons" with companies that do business in Brazil.

I think it's exciting and I'm a part of it. I'm part of a large reverse migration of Brazilians coming back from abroad these last few years, exactly because of all these opportunities, but it's important not to let this go to our heads.

Why's that?

The United States was once a country that was actually a beacon of democracy and of high ideals, before it stated having imperial dreams and conquering Mexico, the Phillipines, Cuba, etc. Brazil was an actual empire-empire once. People were afraid of us in the 19th century (my main area of knowledge). Brazil used to topple Uruguyan presidents in the 19th century the same way Americans did to Central American ones in the 20th century. Besides, we do tend to be overconfident and overindulgent. Raising people from poverty should continue to be number one priority.

So you don't want history to repeat itself, in other words.

Actually, that particular history has no chance of repeating itself, I think. But we can be stupid and overconfident in several new ways now.

What are your hopes for the future now that you're back in Brazil?

My main priority is being a writer. That's all I know how to do. Write, write, write, until I die. That's my only ambition. Get some writing done. Publication will take care of itself, or not. But time is running out and I need to get some books out of me. That's it.

Book Review: The New Brazil

With Brazil's entrance on the world scene, there's been a profusion of good reading about modern Brazil. The New Brazil, written by Latin Americanist Riordan Roett and published in August 2010, is one of several recent books aimed to educate about Brazilian politics, economy, and history.

To understand the style of the book, you first have to understand the author. Roett is a Latin Americanist of the old guard, a long-time academic who has worked at numerous prestigious universities and was awarded major honors by the Brazilian and Chilean governments. He's involved in several think tanks and international organizations, and has served as an advisor to Wall Street businesses and the US government (to be more specific, the National Intelligence Council). In short, he's one of the leading Latin America experts in the US, after decades of studying the region.

The book is definitely a must-read for foreigners interested in Brazil; for Brazilians, it could be interesting to see Roett's perspective. As a warning, though, it's a very dense text - it's essentially a textbook. (For a bit of a lighter read with a much more personal perspective, I recommend Brazil on the Rise) Though Roett is a political scientist, there's a lot of focus on macroeconomics, particularly in the second half, which can get you bogged down a bit.

My favorite part were the first couple of chapters, where Roett does a great job condensing Brazilian history in a really effective way. It made me want to explore different parts in more detail, particularly the history of education and life during new empire period. The second half would probably interest those looking to learn more about business in Brazil, since it's full of economic indicators. Still, the parts about modern politics are also very interesting.

Like any foreigner writing about Brazil, Roett doesn't hide his opinions, and quite openly offers his views on different subjects. He's particularly critical of government corruption, and is also pro-business, in favor of certain neoliberal reforms. This may seem like a turn off, especially for Brazilian readers, but he keeps personal views to a minimum, though if you read between the lines you'll see more of them. I don't necessarily love his prescriptive tone at times, which seems to reflect an old school Washington approach, but he's full of facts and figures to defend his position.

While Roett does an excellent job tracing Brazil's history, seeing the book's references end in 2009 made some of the last parts nearly outdated; he finished the manuscript before Dilma's election victory, and a lot has happened since then has changed some of his conclusions. Maybe he'll write a follow up at some point.

Available at: Amazon   Barnes and Noble  Android

Extras

Listen to Roett discuss the book on this podcast [Part I below, Part 2 here]

 

And here's a lecture with Roett and Henrique Meirelles from December 2010:

 

Q&A With Leighton Gage

Continuing with my Q&A series, I had the chance to chat with Leighton Gage, an American crime novelist who sets his books in Brazil. Leighton has lived all over the world, and like many of us who write about Brazil, is married to a Brazilian and has spent a great deal of time living and traveling in Brazil. I've read four of his novels, which star Chief Inspector Mario Silva, who investigates crimes throughout Brazil. There's a lot of detail about São Paulo and Brasília, but there's also scenes in Rio, Manaus, rural São Paulo state, and other areas of Brazil. While his books are fiction, he incorporates real themes into the plots, things like the MST, police corruption, and immigration, blending reality and fantasy. His latest book, A Vine in the Blood, is coming out this year. Leighton also contributes to a crime novelist blog, where he writes about Brazilian news, history and culture.

Using Brazil as the setting for a series of crime novels isn't very common. Why did you decide on Brazil?
The answer to that one is embedded in the question. I decided to do it exactly because it isn’t very common. I’m an avid reader of the genre, and after I’d worked my way through Garcia-Roza’s work, and Rubem Fonseca’s and Patricia Melo’s, I started running out of options. A friend of mine, a lady I share a blog with, lives and works in Iceland. They have a population of a little over 300,000 people, hardly any crime at all, and more crime writers than Brazil does. It’s crazy.

You use a fair amount of Portuguese in the novels, and not just in the dialogue. Why was that important to you as a writer?
I think it adds atmosphere. Hemingway did too. Some folks, including my editor, don’t particularly like it. And, sometimes, they tell me to either explain those words – or take them out.

You've spent a lot of time living and traveling in Brazil. Which place or city is your favorite?
Currently? Florianopolis. But I might feel differently next week. Or even tomorrow. My preferences change. Sometimes, it’s because I’ve changed, or the locale has changed. Or because the season makes a difference. Or because I’m keeping different company. But I will say one thing: there’s not a single city, not a single state, in Brazil that I dislike. I love them all.

Read the rest of the interview after the jump.

Brazil on the Rise

One of the golden rules of writing is to write what you know, which is especially true when it comes to non-fiction. And who better to write about Brazil than Larry Rohter, arguably one of the top American experts on Brazil who's able to write in an engaging, personal manner? After years of living in Brazil and writing about the country, he finally has a book out, Brazil on the Rise, chronicling Brazil's ascension and its continuing challenges, following his Portuguese-language book Deu no New York Times. Peppering personal anecdotes with historical analysis and fascinating facts, it's one of the best English-language non-fiction books you'll read about Brazil.

Unfortunately, like with any critical analysis of Brazil, comes criticism: looking at some of the reviews, readers thought he either wasn't analytical enough, or too stereotypical, or too biased. While I may not be a professional writer, I can attest to the fact that it's impossible to write in depth about Brazil without injecting at least a part of your opinion, particularly if you've lived there, and I think it's laughable when people make these types of criticisms. My response is, can you really do better? I don't think so. I know I couldn't, though I'd love to be able to write something like this someday.

The book is an excellent read, both for Brazilians interested in a gringo perspective and Americans interested in getting a deeper, more comprehensive view of Brazilian history and current affairs. The first chapter does a brief but extensive overview of Brazilian history through the dictatorship, and then the next four chapters cover culture, cultural idiosyncracies (the jeito, amongst other things), religion, race and racism, music, film, beach culture, and soccer. If you've read my blog for awhile, you'll find my views on these subjects are very similar to Rohter's, except for his strong dislike of Oscar Niemeyer. He really can't stand that guy. Anyway.

In the next chapters, he discusses industry, agriculture, and energy, which are key chapters if you're looking to learn about the Brazilian economy. He gives a fantastic overview that really pieces together Brazil's development in a way that's easy to understand. Chapter Eight is a very enlightening section, where Rohter talks about the Amazon, including the conspiracy theories about a hostile takeover, development and deforestation, and the huge obstacles for Brazilians living in the Amazon region. Finally, the last two chapters are devoted to politics, analyzing Lula's presidency and making predictions about the upcoming administration.

Buy this book! (Buy here if you're in the US and here if you're in Brazil) I promise it's worth a read. Next on my list is The New Brazil.

Further Reading - Reviews

Christian Science Monitor

ABC

Miami Herald

The Economist

Rio Gringa's Reading List

Sometimes I think I may end up in academia, since I'm happiest when I'm in school and I would love to be a professor. Plus, sometimes professors or students link to my blog from courses on Blackboard. So until I can teach someday, I'll just have to pretend. Here's a reading list to learn about Brazilian history and modern day Brazil and Rio de Janeiro. I haven't read these yet, so I'll feature some of them over the course of the coming months. Feel free to read along with me!

Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed, Larry Rohter NEW

From Amazon: "In this rich and textured account, New York Times reporter Larry Rohter gives us the definitive look at the country’s amazing rebirth. As the paper’s bureau chief in Rio, Rohter had a front-row seat for many of the dramatic changes that have unfolded in Brazil in recent years. Through interviews with every important political, business, cultural, and religious leader on the scene, Rohter delivers a sharp and fresh account of the country’s rapid and radical changes."

The New Brazil, Riordan Roett NEW

From Amazon: "In this engaging book, Riordan Roett traces the long road Brazil has traveled to reach its present status and discusses the many challenges it has overcome and those that lie ahead. Roett, a veteran scholar and writer on Brazil, discusses the country's development as a colony, empire, and finally a republic; the making of modern Brazil, beginning with the rise to power of Getulio Vargas in 1930; the advent of military government in 1964; the return to civilian rule two decades later; and the pivotal presidencies of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva."

Myth of Marginality: Urban Poverty and Politics in Rio de Janeiro, Janice Perlman

Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro, Janice Perlman

From Oxford University Press: "Janice Perlman's award-winning The Myth of Marginality  was the first in-depth account of life in the favelas, and it is considered one of the most important books in global urban studies in the last 40 years. Now, in Favela , Perlman carries that story forward to the present. Re-interviewing many longtime favela residents whom she had first met in 1969--as well as their children and grandchildren--Perlman offers the only long-term perspective available on the favela families as they struggle for a better life. Perlman discovers that much has changed in four decades, but while educational levels have risen, democracy has replaced dictatorship, and material conditions have improved, many residents feel more marginalized than ever."

Drugs and Democracy in Rio de Janeiro: Trafficking, Social Networks, and Public Security, Enrique Desmond Arias

From Amazon: "Taking an ethnographic approach to understanding urban violence, Enrique Desmond Arias examines the ongoing problems of crime and police corruption that have led to widespread misery and human rights violations in many of Latin America's new democracies. Employing participant observation and interview research in three favelas (shantytowns) in Rio de Janeiro over a nine-year period, Arias closely considers the social interactions and criminal networks that are at the heart of the challenges to democratic governance in urban Brazil."

Lula of Brazil: The Story So Far, Richard Bourne

From Amazon: "Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's dramatic life story has captured the imagination of millions, and his progressive politics have brought hope and excitement to Brazil--and the world. This compelling work is the first major English-language biography of the metalworker who became president of Latin America's largest and most powerful country. In a clearly written, vividly detailed narrative, Richard Bourne describes Lula's childhood hardships in an impoverished family, his days as a revered trade unionist, and the strike movement that brought down Brazil's military dictatorship. The book chronicles Lula's campaigns for the presidency, his first term in office beginning in 2002, a major corruption scandal, and his reelection in 2006."

The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir, Fernando Henrique Cardoso

From Amazon: "Before recalling his presidency, Cardoso devotes much of the book to the complexities of Brazilian history and politics, including the appeal of communism to Brazilians looking for solutions to social inequities and the nervousness that has provoked in the U.S. Readers interested in the political history of this fascinating nation, of huge importance on the American continent, will enjoy this book."

A History of Modern Brazil, Colin MacLachlan

From Amazon: "This book provides a well-rounded, brief history of Brazil that is unique because of its focus on both the politics and culture of the republic. Colin MacLachlan uses a political narrative to frame the evolution of national culture and the formation of national identity. He evaluates Brazilian myths, stereotypes, and icons such as soccer and dancing as part of the historical analysis."

Brazil as an Economic Superpower? Lael Brainard & Leonardo Martinez-Diaz

From Amazon: "Brookings gathered scholars and policymakers from Brazil, Europe, and the United States to examine the present state and likely future of Brazil's economy. Their findings can be found in "Brazil as an Economic Superpower". The authors' analysis focuses particularly on five key topics: agribusiness, energy, trade, social investment, and multinational corporations. The net result is an invaluable analytical contribution and a provocative look into the future of our global economy and into the workings of one particularly important component of that system."

Brazil: A Century of Change, Jerry Davila

From Amazon: "Brazil, the largest of the Latin American nations, is fast becoming a potent international economic player as well as a regional power. This English translation of an acclaimed Brazilian anthology provides critical overviews of Brazilian life, history, and culture and insight into Brazil's development over the past century. The distinguished essayists, most of whom are Brazilian, provide expert perspectives on the social, economic, and cultural challenges that face Brazil as it seeks future directions in the age of globalization."

Brazil: Five Centuries of Change, Thomas Skidmore

A historical overview of Brazil from a renowned Brazilianist, especially useful for those new to Brazil

 

Book Review: Traveler's Companion

A few week's ago, I stumbled across a collection of short stories about Brazil called Brazil: A Traveler's Literary Companion. While I'd argue that it's not necessarily a very helpful travel companion, it's definitely a fun way to sample different Brazilian writers and see which you'd like to read more of.

The book is divided into regions: Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, the Amazon, the Northeast, the Central West, and the South. Some of the stories do give you a feel for what different cities and regions are like, and give a taste of things to see or expect. But others are just short stories that happen to take place in these areas and don't really have much to do with the location. Plus, the Northeast section is sorely lacking, especially since the longest story doesn't even seem to take place there.

My other quibble is the translations. Some of them are better than others, but some of them are pretty bad (see: municipal school, commemorative dates), which can make for a bit of a painful read. Some of the stories made me want to go back and read them in Portuguese, since I got the impression there was something lost in translation.

The best sections, in my opinion, were the Rio and SP sections, since they really gave an interesting snapshots of both regions, although the Rio section didn't have a single story from Jose Carlos Oliveira, which it could have used. Some of my favorites were "Taxi" and "The Real Jose," which were very funny and charming.

I'd especially recommend this for people new to Brazil and Brazilian literature, since it's a helpful first look before you delve in with full-length novels or non-fiction. To see more great books about Brazil, click here.