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A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions
 
 
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A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions [Hardcover]

Peter Robb (Author)
2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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From Publishers Weekly

The death of the title refers to a recent event, but Times Literary Supplement writer Robb gets his mysterious subtitle most directly from Machado de Assis, a 19th-century Brazilian novelist considered at length for his ability to weave discussion of the nation's racial and economic disparities into his wildly popular serial fictions for women's magazines. The term's origins, however, are biblical; First and Second Chronicles were called "Omissions" because they contained information left out of the preceding Books of Kings. Although Robb tries to fill in some of the gaps in recent Brazilian history, he doesn't so much uncover new data on the spectacularly corrupt 1990â€"1992 presidency of Fernando Collor as pull together some of the many disparate sources. Collor's rise and fall, and the murder of his chief henchman, form a solid backbone for the book, but one from which Robb frequently wanders to ruminate on centuries of Brazilian history filled with eroticism and violent upheaval. He also recounts his own travels through modern Brazil, devoting as much attention to the sensual delights of buchada de bode (stuffed goat's stomach) as he does to a threatening encounter with the military police. The overall result is a bit of a jumble, but it's a delightful jumble: a Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with a Latin beat. At various points, Robb compares the unfolding Collor scandal to the soap opera staples of Brazilian television, and he's managed to capture the story's lurid surrealism with a deft, erudite touch.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Brazil is a country so vast and varied that the Sao Paolo banker and the Amazonian tribesman live centuries apart, acquainted with each other, perhaps, only through television. Making sense of it may only be possible through a subjective approach. In this fascinating work, Robb draws on firsthand observation and literary research to explore Brazil's history, politics, and culture, focusing in particular on the manipulations and massacres that shaped events far from its sunny beaches. Beauty and ugliness are inextricably intertwined in what he calls "the oddest and most thrilling country in the Western hemisphere." Following the threads of stories and ideas, Robb shuttles back and forth in time: colonization, slavery, military rule, general strikes, the crippling Collor presidency, and the rise of Lula unfold, not as dry chronology, but as cause, effect, and definition of a national character. Running ruminations on food, literature, and sexuality add even more color to a tapestry that's beautiful from a distance and motley up close. Similar in approach to At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig [BKL Ja 1 & 15 04], about Paraguay, but with considerably more art and decorum. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Murders happen anywhere and mine most nearly happened in Rio. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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3 Reviews
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2.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A book that needed omissions, April 12 2006
By 
Brian Maitland (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions (Paperback)
The subtitle of this book is "A Book of Omissions" and there is definitely something missing. There're heaping tablespoons of information on Brazil's political history and how that emerged from her unique colonial history. The problem is twofold--the writer intertwines some irrelevant and mostly boring episodes in his life into it (just skip all that if you actually pick up this book...trust me) and I found the Chronology at the back made far more sense than the body of this work.

Maybe it just needed a better writer or editor. I can't put a finger on it.
It's sad really as this subject is a goldmine.

So two stars for the fascinating history of Brazilian politics and no stars for the writing which did not blow me away at all.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Assortment, July 5 2004
This review is from: A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions (Hardcover)
Don't be put off by the mingling of genres. Although Robb has written a book that is both history and travel, politics and opinion, he is a more than able enough author to keep the reader turning the pages. The prevailing question of the book is, 'What is Brazil?' and Robb entertains us by cherry picking historical anecdotes, then relating them to the political scene of the last 20 years. It's definitely rich picking. The presidency of Fernando Collor, which forms a healthy chunk of the book, is an utterly absorbing scandal, depicting a total abuse of the system. Yet it is in Brazil's history where Robb is at his best, his detailed description of slave societies that formed outside of the 'state', the manner in which they were dealt with, sounds strong comparisons with the problems that both gave Lula his presidency and ensure that his hold on power will be hard to keep.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Too Superficial, July 2 2004
By 
"jitoseattle" (Seattle, Washington United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions (Hardcover)
This book is very strange. It is neither an academic essay nor a good analisys of Brazilian history and costumes.It is a combination of everything that ends up being very dissapointing.

For a brief book on Brazilian history, I reccomend "Brazil: Five Centuries of Change" by Thomas Skidmore. It is an excellent first step on the subject.

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