Product Description

Occupying what is arguably the most breathtakingly beautiful site in the world, the people of Rio - the Cariocas - tell their stories: of cannibals charming European intellectuals; of elegant slaves and their shabby masters; of how a casual chat between two people drinking coffee on Avenida Rio Branco could affect world coffee markets; of an awesome beach life; of faveals, drugs, police, carnival, football and music. With his own Carioca good humour and spellbinding storytelling gifts, Ruy Castro brings the reader thrillingly close to the flames.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180526 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-19
• Original language: Portuguese
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 244 pages

Review
'Interweaving stories from his life with tales of Rio's colourful history,Castro paints a portrait of one of the most passionate cities on earth.' Express

About the Author
Ruy Castro is a writer and journalist whose books include two classics about Bossa Nova, a biography of the immortal footballer Garrincha and an encyclopaedia of Ipanema. He has also edited a compendium of 1,600 poisonous bons mots called Bad Humour and two novels for children. His book Bossa Nova: The Story of Brazilian Music that Seduced the World was published in the US in 2001.

Customer Reviews

An engaging account
This book is one of a series devoted to major cities. I had already read the ones on Paris, Florence and Sydney, and while each was interesting in its own way, found a common weakness that the author, rather than the city, tended to dominate the narrative. Castro’s book was therefore a welcome change. Like any good travel writer, he is not absent, but his focus remains on the charms and foibles of Rio. He provides a potted, at times humorous, history, explains the shape of the modern city, traces the growth of samba and the modern face of Carnival, and showcases some of the highlights and lowlights of carioca culture. Castro is a journalist with an engaging style and clearly loves his home town. The other books I’ve read so far in this series left me with no great desire to see the cities they described, but after reading Castro I was giving serious thought to putting on my dancing shoes and flying down to Rio.