WHY IS THIS COUNTRY DANCING?

Rating:
Summary: It's a Travel Tale not a music book for that get.....
Review: Krich's literate yet frequently caustic style may irritate many yet few writers are as capable of communicating the cacophony of third world musical forms now competing for our attention. I very much enjoyed this witty book and found its strong rhythm as irresistible as Brazilian music. If you love CARNAVAL few have ever captured the gringo experience in words as well Krich.

Rating:
Summary: looking through samba-colored glasses
Review: Well, I have to disagree somewhat with the comments of my amateur book-reviewing collegues. This is not a book about Brazilian music, it's a book about Brazil seen through it's music. I'll agree that as a book about Brazilian music, it fails miserably. As a book about Brazil... well it doesn't succeed, but only because no country or populace in the world can truly be understood through just one viewpoint. Brazil=music is a handy way of ttrying to look at the subject, but ultimately as false as any other single assumption. Laudibly, Krich is observent enough to write about the harsh realities that lie behind Brazil's image of sun, samba, and mulattas (Therefore 2 stars instead of just 1). Nevertheless, the end result is the same as if a foreigner wrote about the U.S. as interpreted through jazz after visiting L.A., Chicago, and New York and then taking a bus tour through the Deep South. A good itinerary to write about jazz, but not if you are writing about the country as a whole. The base premise defeats the purpose of the book.

Rating:
Summary: A tour de farce of Brazilian music
Review: With all the famous Brazilian musicians he had access to, it is a wonder Krich came up with a superficial, irritating, error-ridden book like this one. Anyone who knows anything about Brazil and its music will be offended on almost every page. If you want to learn about samba and Brazilian music, there are far better books, such as "The Brazilian Sound" or --in Portuguese--"Chega de Saudade."