3 comments about Let's Go Brazil 1st Edition (Let's Go Brazil).

1. I bought this book for my short trip to Brazil: Rio and Iguaçu in Dec 04. I had purchased other travel books from lonely planet, rough guide, etc. I think Let's Go guides are easier to read for someone from US (no strange UK terms :). Back to Brazil book, all the basic information is well organized and concise. For people who likes more details and less traveled spots, this book will not be good enough, although I find that one can always talk to people at the hotel or hostel to get more precise info. Also maps are small and not very detailed.



2. Hey, I am Brazilian. Brazilian guidebooks on Brazil are lousy and package-tourist-who-hires-expensive-cars-oriented. So, I gave Let's Go a try - I used many of Let's Go guidebooks before.
   
   To say it shortly: rubbish. I come from Porto Alegre, a dull Southern city, with no beaches at all. Let's Go, nevertheless, calls it "beachside beauty". If I had used its maps to find my way, I would be lost in my own city and reappear in the seediest and dodgiest parts of it.
   
   Don't buy it.



3. I just returned from a four week trip around Brazil. I took this guide and the Moon Handbook of Brazil.
   
   This book gave pretty good restaurant recommendations. The hotels that were recommended were mainly for budget/student travelers, so we didn't use them much. The maps were good, thank goodness! However, the book didn't give much background information on the history or culture of the country. It was also lacking information on the northeast coast, which is where we spent most of our time.
   
   If you're looking for a real budget guide, this may be the book for you. I found it to be rather incomplete though.

No comments about Brazil Customs, Trade Regulations And Procedures Handbook (World Business, Investment and Government Library) (World Business, Investment and Government Library).

No comments about Wildlife Guide: Brazil (Globetrotter Wildlife Guide).

No comments about This Place Is Wet: The Brazilian Rain Forest (Imagine Living Here (Trade)).

No comments about Brazil (Postcards from).

No comments about Brazil (Eyewitness Travel Guide).

1 comments about Rio de Janeiro (Great Cities Series).

1. Rio de Janeiro may be the most beautiful setting for a city in the world - it is a photographer's dream. There are pictures of beaches, mountains, cliffs, parks, and gardens, but about half of the book is devoted to far less interesting pictures of buildings. I have nothing against buildings, indeed I live in a building, but it's a skinny book, and more architectural shots means less of the natural grandeur of the city is shown.

   Most annoying is the many lame choices of pictures for the full page spreads. Rather than choose the sorts of pictures that really show off the city in all of its glory, they chose many "artsy" pictures of graffiti, a pole with lots of wires, etc.

   The city is beautiful, and this does come through in many of the pictures, the 2 star rating is my opinion of the book given potential of the city.

   Note to the authors: Take a look at the book Spectacular Israel, that's a book that lives up to, and almost exceeds the potential of its subject.

2 comments about "Civilizing" Rio: Reform and Resistance in a Brazilian City, 1889-1930.

1. This a major addition to the social history of urban life in Brazil, and Latin America generally. By shifting the emphasis from workplace struggles to conflict over urban space, Meade allows us to rethink dramatic and sometimes puzzling episodes of popular protest in turn-of-the-century Rio de Janeiro (such as the revolt against compulsory smallpox vaccination). Her argument that these protests should be seen as part of the contest over capitalist modernization, and are no less "modern" than workplace struggles in nearby Sao Paulo, adds to the ongoing discussion of political consciousness as forming in struggles both within and beyond the point of production. Meade also explores the implications of "urban beautification" for the popular classes in a way that connects processes in Rio with broader global tendencies during the Age of Imperialism. Finally, the book is highly readable and accessible to the non-specialist, and can be used in courses ranging from introductory undergraduate surveys to graduate seminars.



2. This book provides both a useful overview of urban social history in turn-of-the-century Rio de Janeiro and a unique and convincing analysis of how poor urban and suburban residents responded to urban renewal projects. The author places her analysis in an engaging, accessible, and accurate narrative of the city's broader history, weaving together the findings of a broad array of specialized secondary works. Her own primary research on popular protests provides a crucial part of this history, and her conclusions are suggestive of how popular movements might be understood elsewhere as well. The book shows that the effects of undemocratic urban administration can be disasterous for the least powerful sectors of the population. Yet is also shows that the urban poor were by no means "marginalized," nor did they decline to participate in orderly, legal forms of protest. Riots and violence exploded in Rio only after poor residents had tolerated arbitrary and violent government implementation of urban policies, and after they had found other avenues of appeal to government officials closed. This book is effective in undergraduate and graduate courses alike. In addition to providing an excellent overview of Rio's early twentieth-century history, the book stimulates students to think critically about urbanization, class conflict, forms of protest, and the peculiar concerns of non-industrial nations to create images of order and civilization in the early twentieth century.

3 comments about Amazon Up Close: The Passionate Adventurer's Guide to the Brazilian Amazon & the Pantanal (Adventure Guide).

1. Excellent! Absolutely indispensable for the Amazon traveler - not only is it packed with useful info, but Bloom clearly understands the local cultures in a way that few travel writers do. Highly recommended-



2. Not many books are available about Amazonia,and indeed this is a very useful one when trying to find information on excursions, guides, food, health... but some remarks on the cities and their inhabitants are quite superficial. The way people live in cities such as Manaus or Belém should make us think of more than what colorful the marketplaces are, if we intend to understand a bit of what's happening in the Amazon, and in Latin America. The inclusion of detailed maps of the cities and some budget hotels could greatly improve this book.



3. Few books have ever excited me as much as this one. My copy has a sticker that says it won Best Guidebook of the Year and this book deserves it. The author has obviously traveled herself through the Amazon and she gives a lot of "up close" tips. But what makes the book so special are also the articles written by other people--scientists and shamans who work with tribal people. The chapter by Dr. Meyer who had a shamanisticc experience with an Indian tribe and fire ants is just incredible! I wasn't even planning to go to the Amazon when I visited Brazil but somehow this book ended up in my hands and changed my life. Whether you are going to the Amazon or just want to read about it,get this book. I loved it!

No comments about Brazil (Visit to).