Gringos in Brazil, you must read this book.
Larry Rohter was one of the New York Times' main Brazil correspondents in the past several decades, and he knows Brazil better than most gringos I know or have read. The book, it seems, is a bit of a desabafo, a way to get a lot of things off of his chest and also a way to explain his vision of Brazil, Brazilians, and how things work in Brazil. He intersperses his war stories and vision with his articles from the Times, but unfortunately, the article sections largely dominate the book.
The book is divided into sections: Culture, Society, Politics, the Amazon, and Science/Economy. Though some of the topics were familiar, I learned a great deal about recent history, Brazilian companies, and politics.The best part of the book, undoubtedly, is the introduction and the part about culture. He could have written an entire book just explaining his experiences and his opinions, which would have made for even better reading.
One of the things I love most about Larry is that he put up with some unbelievable bullshit writing about Brazil, far more than I've ever dealt with, and did it with class. Any time he wrote a story that was perceived as negative, he was attacked with hate mail and sometimes even by the Brazilian media, but by far the worst thing was when he was nearly deported by the President of Brazil himself.
In 2004, Larry wrote a story about how top government officials were growing increasingly worried with President Lula's drinking habits, and essentially outed him as an alcoholic. The response was quick and brutal: Lula called for Larry to be expelled from the country. Luckily, a court order overturned the decision and the Lula administration soon backpedaled and decided it wouldn't be in their best interests to publicly demonstrate censorship of the international media, and Larry stayed and continued writing.
The book is divided into sections: Culture, Society, Politics, the Amazon, and Science/Economy. Though some of the topics were familiar, I learned a great deal about recent history, Brazilian companies, and politics.The best part of the book, undoubtedly, is the introduction and the part about culture. He could have written an entire book just explaining his experiences and his opinions, which would have made for even better reading.
One of the things I love most about Larry is that he put up with some unbelievable bullshit writing about Brazil, far more than I've ever dealt with, and did it with class. Any time he wrote a story that was perceived as negative, he was attacked with hate mail and sometimes even by the Brazilian media, but by far the worst thing was when he was nearly deported by the President of Brazil himself.
In 2004, Larry wrote a story about how top government officials were growing increasingly worried with President Lula's drinking habits, and essentially outed him as an alcoholic. The response was quick and brutal: Lula called for Larry to be expelled from the country. Luckily, a court order overturned the decision and the Lula administration soon backpedaled and decided it wouldn't be in their best interests to publicly demonstrate censorship of the international media, and Larry stayed and continued writing.
My only warning is that the book is written in Portuguese, and I haven't been able to find a copy in English. It's a little weird reading an American in another language, but in the end, his voice comes through just as clearly. I really admire Larry for his very clear-cut, honest vision of Brazil, one that encompasses the good, the bad, and the ambiguous, and how he manages to get this vision across while still demonstrating a great love and admiration for Brazil.
Click here to order the book and click here to read the VEJA review of the book.
Click here to order the book and click here to read the VEJA review of the book.
I'd heard about the book and I'll certainly ask my mom if she's already read it. ONce I am finished with the 1400 pages of Follet's latest World without end, I'll get my next books list sorted out. Just out of curiosity, how many pages this one has??? :o)) cheers,
Posted by: Margot Abirato | January 06, 2009 at 02:39 AM
that's so funny. i picked this book up at the airport bookstore this weekend and was contemplating whether or not i should buy it!
Posted by: polyana | January 06, 2009 at 08:27 AM
that's so funny. i picked this book up at the airport bookstore this weekend and was contemplating whether or not i should buy it!
Posted by: polyana | January 06, 2009 at 08:29 AM
I really wanted to read this.
Since the subject is Brazil in the US media, I thought you should read this (requires a free login).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/06/AR2009010600403.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
The Wash. Post article talks about the Rio Police using Iraq war tactics in the favelas. Very interesting.
Posted by: Liesl | January 06, 2009 at 12:42 PM
"It's a little weird reading an American in another language, but in the end, his voice comes through just as clearly." It's funny, but it's not weird for me to hear from other not American people writing an article, a paper, a book, etc, in English. As the joke says, a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, a person who speaks two languages is bilingual, a person who speaks just one language is American (hahaha, I hope you find it's funny). :P
Posted by: Maciel Grecco | January 06, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Gringa,
Este é o primeiro livro do Larry, e ele só lançou em português mesmo. Portanto, nem adianta procurar a versão em inglês.
E uma pergunta na parte política: Mesmo depois de ler todas as atrocidades do nosso querido presidente Lula, vc consegue admirá-lo da mesma maneira? (A parte que mais me chocou foi quando o Lula disse: FO#@-SE a constituição, eu quero esse cara fora daqui...essa doeu...)
Sorry pelo português...mas sou monoglota!!
ps. seu blog é sensacional, meu parabéns! Não ligue para os meus compatriotas chatos cérebros de galinha que não agüentam uma crítica.
um abraço,
Posted by: Sal | January 06, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Hey, Rachel, there has been no English translation and let's see if U.S. publishers would be interested. I doubt, since I don't think his articles were insightful even with the natural hard news limitations.
I agree with you that his personal tales would have made up a much more interesting read. Serious Brazilian correspondents in the U.S. tended to play down Larry stories in the NYT as a little bit of gringo stereotype stories, and I tend to agree. Larry seemed to actually had some fun in focusing in steotypes on purpose and laugh off at the reactions. My taeke on the book: very good. But, in your few years in Brazil and without the NYT resources, you have already published more insightful hard news stories.
His best story, by far: Lula's drinking habits, of course. The funniest thing about the absurd reaction is that, to this very day, no government official has ever disputed the actual facts. It tells a lot about our utter lack of self-esteem and about Nelson Rodrigues called our inate "complexo de vira latas".
Posted by: Rogério | January 06, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Too bad he didn't write it in English - it's the kind of book that would have been interesting to have my husband read (he doesn't read Portuguese)...
Posted by: Alexandra | January 06, 2009 at 04:46 PM
It's a really amazing book. I picked it up myself after seeing the Veja article. His section about Lula is so TENSE - like reading a novel.
Posted by: Ernesto | January 06, 2009 at 05:04 PM
Hey Rachel...haven't seen you in BSH and hoping all is well! Missing you around. Some interesting things happening!! We may have some good news soon!! Miss you!! Wend
Posted by: Wendy Irving | May 22, 2009 at 09:34 PM