Samba

It took me all these years to review this book, but it recently came to mind (I anticipate traveling to stay with a branch of my family tree I've never met before) and suddenly Samba is on my must re-read list. It's fabulous — even now I get chills thinking about it, and I haven't read it for years.But now that I've brought it to mind, you can bet it's on my re-read list. The most amazing thing is Guillermoprieto's kicker — what writers call it when you've got just the perfect anecdote or quote or image or whatever it is that leaves readers slack-jawed. Because by the end she was already writing at such a fever pitch that I couldn't see how she could possibly out-do herself. But she did. Meanwhile, no need for me to repeat the (positive) insights of other reviewers — they're right-on.

If you're into the history of favelas and Samba in brazil, probably a great read for you. i had to read it for school, and while i loved the class, did not love the book. A little to scatter-brained for me.

I love reading about Brazil and Samba and I really enjoyed this book.

this is a really dense book about the history of samba. Not exactly what I expected.

Great.

I like samba

The title of the book "Samba" (either picked by the author or by the publisher for marketing purposes) is misleading. The book has nothing significant about Samba, music or dance. (For example, one of the very few Samba dance descriptions is of a couple coming from an affluent beach neighborhood to a rehearsal, where the male dancer kept rubbing his neck against the female dancer c...).However, the book presents realistic life in a Rio favela and centered on preparations of one of the most famous samba schools for the carnival, from the point of view of a high class Mexican (American comparable) talented journalist. The author moved to live in a favela for short periods, with a luxury apartment and maid in the rich part of the city to escape to frequently. The result is one of a few books that describe life of the lowest Brazilian class in a Rio favela. The misery, drug culture, fatalism, lawlessness, male dominance, and the joy of the preparations for the few happy days of the year during the carnival, which the author followed through, until the last minute before the climax, the parade that she could only see briefly from afar but not participate, due to what appears to be a nervous breakdown.

Love this book. Read it MANY years ago when Dona Zica was still alive. I'm a VERY active member of the Mangueira samba school and work with and talk to many of the people she talks about in this book. They said they remember her living in Mangueira and writing this book. I've looked for a Portuguese translation to give to them, but can't find any. Does ANYONE know if this book has ever been published in Portuguese? I am thinking about translating parts of it where they are mentioned so they can read what was written about them. Especially Dona Neuma's daughters, Chininha and Guezinha.... What a tribute to them and their mother!