A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions
by Peter Robb
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter RobbEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2004-05-01
ISBN: 0312424876
Number of pages: 352
Publisher: Picador
Book Reviews of A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions
Book Review: Another heady, erudite mix from the incomparable Peter Robb
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a big fan of Peter Robb's Midnight in Sicily. About that masterpiece, The Economist called it "simply the best book in English about Italy." The author's latest work, A Death in Brazil, promised and delivered much of the same - a heady, erudite mix of Mr. Robb's skillful interspersing of equal parts history, political machinations, and personal travelogue. For good measure, like Midnight in Sicily you also get a gastronomic tour de force. Robb appreciates the regional dishes and describes what brings them to the table as well as what they taste like going down, what he drank with it, who served him, who he was dining with, other characters in the restaurant that night...you get the idea. As noted in an excellent review in the UK's Telegraph, A Death in Brazil is, like Midnight in Sicily, "impossible to corral into a single genre" and "a dazzling testament to [Robb's] appetite for knowledge and understanding." Exactly. Mr. Robb's home base for this tale in a restaurant in Recife called Bang??. His descriptive writing puts you square in the middle of the place, with proprietor Vav? chatting you up and Vav?'s wife Dona Lia working the Burroughs accounting machine at the bar.
For me, the best parts are the political stuff detailing the rapid rise and equally rapid fall of Brazil's president (1990 - 1992) Fernando Collor de Mello and his personal fixer and moneyman, PC Farias. Robb also details the rise of the Workers' Party and of its leader, Luis In?cio 'Lula' da Silva. We get all sorts of delightful asides from the author. 'Lula' means 'squid' in Portuguese...he is so-named because in his early days, the now-President's unruly mane of hair draped his head like a mass of tentacles. Who knew?
Another good touch is the hand-drawn maps of Alex Snellgrove. There's one of Brazil as whole and another providing more detail on the northeast section of the country where Robb does the majority of his reporting. Every place Robb mentioned in the text is marked clearly on one or both maps.
Summary of A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions
Deliciously sensuous and fascinating, Robb renders in vivid detail the intoxicating pleasures of Brazil's food, music, literature, and landscape as he travels not only cross country but also back in time-from the days of slavery to modern day political intrigue and murder. Spellbinding and revelatory, Peter Robb paints a multi-layered portrait of Brazil as a country of intoxicating and passionate extremes.
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