Rating: 
Summary: Good Collection, but Uneven
Review: The Travelers' Tales are just that - fifty stories mostly written by occasional or short-term visitors to Brazil. While it's often fun to tune in to their wonder and amazement at the things they discover, there are occasional disappointments. The stories range in quality from the very strong (Alma Guillermoprieto discussing evangelism, Bill McKibben on the orderly city of Curitiba, Alexander Shankland on Canudos); to the so-so (Downs Matthews on the nineteenth century flight of American confederate sympathizers to Brazil - a good topic but written in a silly sappy prose); to the downright unreadable (Christopher Hall on Candomble, Rachel C. Derrick searching for Africa in Salvador, John Krich on Ipanema, and Gilbert Phelps' pointless and themeless final chapter).Predictably, most of the stories discuss Rio, the Amazon, and Salvador. Useful and colorful, no doubt, but the gems are those that get off these well-chronicled paths and surprise a reader with something really new. Like most travel-style writers, many here offer their own novice attempts at Portuguese words, often amusingly wrong, but earnest. Brazil is a vast, shocking, wonderful country. This book is fairly successful at presenting different facets and different perspectives. Perhaps it's not the only book you'd want to read if you were going to spend some time in Brazil, but it's among the handful that would help you understand the people and the place.
Rating:
Summary: Good Collection, but Uneven
Review: The Travelers' Tales are just that - fifty stories mostly written by occasional or short-term visitors to Brazil. While it's often fun to tune in to their wonder and amazement at the things they discover, there are occasional disappointments. The stories range in quality from the very strong (Alma Guillermoprieto discussing evangelism, Bill McKibben on the orderly city of Curitiba, Alexander Shankland on Canudos); to the so-so (Downs Matthews on the nineteenth century flight of American confederate sympathizers to Brazil - a good topic but written in a silly sappy prose); to the downright unreadable (Christopher Hall on Candomble, Rachel C. Derrick searching for Africa in Salvador, John Krich on Ipanema, and Gilbert Phelps' pointless and themeless final chapter). Predictably, most of the stories discuss Rio, the Amazon, and Salvador. Useful and colorful, no doubt, but the gems are those that get off these well-chronicled paths and surprise a reader with something really new. Like most travel-style writers, many here offer their own novice attempts at Portuguese words, often amusingly wrong, but earnest. Brazil is a vast, shocking, wonderful country. This book is fairly successful at presenting different facets and different perspectives. Perhaps it's not the only book you'd want to read if you were going to spend some time in Brazil, but it's among the handful that would help you understand the people and the place.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book about Brazil
Review: This was the second book that I have read in The Travellers Tales series. I enjoyed the Mexican book, but the Brazilian book was unbelievable. I read the book over a summer and it was like being on a two month trip throughout the country. The nice feature about this series is the short stories each of which take you to a different place or situation. Then if you want to continue reading on that topic, you can use the bibliography, and get the book from where the story was excerpted. I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed reading the Brazilian book. The only problem with the book was having to finish reading it because I didn't want to put it down. Looking forward to travelling to the country for business or pleasure in the near future. Hot, hot, hot...
Rating:
Summary: Chocante!
Review: Travelers Tales Guide of Brazil should be required reading for anyone applying for a Brazilian visa. The 50 travel essays capture the essence of Brazil. They're brief, mostly well-written, sometimes entertaining, and always revealing the people and culture of this dynamic country. I expected to find mostly stories about the Amazon and Rio; they're there as are so many other diverse places from Curitiba to Belem. As an aficionado of Brazilian music, I particularly enjoyed the two articles by John Krich: Simply Irrisistible and The Guy from Ipanema. Alma Guillermoprieto gives great samba instructions for both men and women. And I learned about cachaca and capoeira, though both are fluid, one a drink and the other a beautiful martial arts performance. It made my trip to Brazil more enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Chocante!
Review: Travelers Tales Guide of Brazil should be required reading for anyone applying for a Brazilian visa. The 50 travel essays capture the essence of Brazil. They're brief, mostly well-written, sometimes entertaining, and always revealing the people and culture of this dynamic country. I expected to find mostly stories about the Amazon and Rio; they're there as are so many other diverse places from Curitiba to Belem. As an aficionado of Brazilian music, I particularly enjoyed the two articles by John Krich: Simply Irrisistible and The Guy from Ipanema. Alma Guillermoprieto gives great samba instructions for both men and women. And I learned about cachaca and capoeira, though both are fluid, one a drink and the other a beautiful martial arts performance. It made my trip to Brazil more enjoyable.
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