Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed [Hardcover]

Larry Rohter (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 31, 2010

In this hugely praised narrative, New York Times reporter Larry Rohter takes the reader on a lively trip through Brazil's history, culture, and booming economy. Going beyond the popular stereotypes of samba, supermodels, and soccer, he shows us a stunning and varied landscape--from breathtaking tropical beaches to the lush and dangerous Amazon rainforest--and how a complex and vibrant people defy definition. He charts Brazil's amazing jump from a debtor nation to one of the world's fastest growing economies, unravels the myth of Brazil's sexually charged culture, and portrays in vivid color the underbelly of impoverished favelas. With Brazil leading the charge of the Latin American decade, this critically acclaimed history is the authoritative guide to understanding its meteoric rise.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his first book, Rohter, a former New York Times bureau chief for Rio de Janeiro, breezes through Brazil's colonial history and then organizes an examination of contemporary events around themes like race, arts, industry, and the Amazon. Brazil, we learn, is a wildly enthralling country with a vast racial background, an enormous amount of agricultural opportunity, and a generally laissez-faire attitude; its influence on the rest of the world is substantial. While Brazil's economy and governance seem to be stabilizing, its people, Rohter argues, are stuck in a pattern of long-held race and class prejudice. Having spent 14 years in Brazil, Rohter is able to share many personal anecdotes, lending his concise effort tremendous color. Obviously an expert on the region, Rohter excels at bringing order to a mass of information about a historically disorderly country. (Sept.)
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Review

“Lively and hard-hitting…Rohter’s very contemporary narrative of the past four decades of Brazilian history is peppered with supporting tales and interviews from his reporting…accessible to a first-time tourist but also balanced and analytical enough for any Brazilian…Critical and probing, Brazil on the Rise will largely leave the reader with an affectionate portrait of Brazilians.”—The Christian Science Monitor

“For some time there has been a gap in the market for a good English book on Brazil. [Rohter] dusts off his old notebooks and finds stories that bring Brazil alive.”—The Economist

“A powerful and well-informed argument about the state of Brazil’s economy and why the country with its vast array of natural resources now seems poised to achieve the world power status that has long eluded it…the long-awaited future has arrived.”—The Associated Press

“A timely, readable study of Brazil’s history and current prospects…Offers an evenhanded consideration of some of Brazil’s most celebrated artifacts, including Carnaval, soccer and samba…With the recent granting of the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, Rohter’s accomplished overview proves a solid brush-up.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[Rohter] successfully illuminates some of the more convoluted issues within Brazilian society. He not only addresses the stereotypical Brazilian topics of soccer, beaches, and the Amazon, but he also tackles such complex subjects as oil, race, and politics…Recommended.”—Library Journal

"Offers fascinating journalistic engagement with the personalities and stories of modern Brazil...Recommended."--Choice

“No one delivers a more insightful and thoughtful look at Brazil than Larry Rohter. His grasp and deep knowledge of my country gives you a sense of its dynamic and vibrant culture as well as the rapid ascent of its economy and its transformation from dictatorship to democracy. Anyone wanting to understand Brazil’s place in the world today must first read this book.”--Paulo Coelho, author of The Alchemist

"It is not surprising that Larry Rohter, who has written with great insight on Brazil and South America for many years for The New York Times, has written a splendid and timely, indeed unrivaled, book on Brazil's meteoric economic success. It is a tour de force.”--Jagdish Bhagwati, University Professor, Columbia University and author of In Defense of Globalization

“No one is better equipped than Larry Rohter to weigh and measure Brazil's remarkable transformation of recent years. Rohter knew the country in less happy times - of military dictatorship and failed economy. Then, by good fortune, as The New York Times's long-time bureau chief in Rio de Janeiro, he was again in place to record, explain and analyze Brazil's much-awaited emergence as an economic power and a self-confident democracy. This book is essential reading both for those interested in Brazil and Latin America as such and those seeking to understand the fast-changing international landscape of the early 21st century in which Brazil is now an important new player.” -- Alan Riding, author of Distant Neighbors: A Portrait of the Mexicans.

 

 

"Brazil is well on its way to becoming a great economic power, but it also is a country with a long and complex history. Larry Rohter knows the country inside out, loves it, and yet is able to bring an objective lens to help us understand where Brazil is coming from, the opportunities and challenges that it faces today, and its manifest destiny. A must-read."--Anil K. Gupta, co-author of Getting China and India Right

 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition (states and 2 in number line) edition (August 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230618871
• ISBN-13: 978-0230618879
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #529,522 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Travel > South America > Brazil > General

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 87 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Rising to the occasion? September 13, 2010

By Gabriel Arisi

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a brazilian living in the USA I wanted to read an American analysis of the recent events in Brazil. Instead I was surprised first with a short chapter that tries to condense the five hundred years-long brazilian history and second with a long rant about sexual oddities, racism, and the real meaning of beach, soccer and carnival. All this was permeated with comparisons to the "Anglo-saxon" values. Only the second half of the book deals with the rising on its title but without any hard fact to corroborate its text. Finally the book concludes with profiles of the current candidates to the Brazilian presidency.

In summary the book is a very long op-ed recollection of personal impressions of an american journalist working in Brazil. It can only be of some use to people that know absolutely nothing about Brazil, but i don't recommend it as a good introduction to my country and also as an in-depth analysis of the political and economic changes that unleashed the Brazil rising that the book title refers to.

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars What a shame several chapters were written through the lenses of Rohter's prejudices and Anglo-Saxon moral September 28, 2010

By Emc2 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Mr. Rohter enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame after President Lula illegal and clumsy attempt to expel him from Brazil for reporting in the New York Times about Lula's abuse with alcohol. So I ran to the library to get Deu no New York Times (O Brasil segundo a otica de um reporter do jornal mais influente do mundo), published in Brazil (no English edition available). I liked the book so much, and after so many recent headlines (just check the latest issues of The Economist) about Brazil successful agribusiness model and how it has achieved sustainable energy independence (sugarcane ethanol makes up 50% of the gasoline market + the recent discovery of huge off shore deposits of gas and oil), I also rushed to buy this book.

Chapter 1, Brazil's history in a nutshell, and chapters 6 through 10 are a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Brazilian economic miracle. Five stars! Unfortunately, chapters 2 and 3, which by the way are completely out of context for a book dealing with "Brazil on the Rise", present a biased view of Brazil, with unfair generalizations and passing judgment based on his moral and religious view of the world. And chapter 2 in particular is written through the lenses of his apparent tight Protestant beliefs as he unnecessarily passes moral judgment on Brazilian sexuality and sexual preferences as viewed by him and supported just by anecdotes. The comparison Mr. Rohter makes in Chapter 4 about Brazilian soccer players treatment of the ball as if it was a woman in just delirious, I just could not stop laughing at such ridiculous metaphor (by the way, if you watch soccer games you should have known that European players and from a lot of nationalities too often kiss the ball too after scoring, including Americans). Those chapters only deserve one star hence resulting in my three star rating. Chapter 5 deals with Brazilian music and arts in general, and despite being excellent, Mr. Rohter really shows up his mastery of this subject, it is out of context for a book on economic development. Brazil on the Rise is actually two separate books published as one.

As Mr. Rohter, I am a gringo (foreigner) who has worked all over Brazil for the last ten years and actually lived over there for four years, and like him, also married a Brazilian, so I do not have the bias of a nationalistic view of Brazil, nor I am not offended by some of Mr. Rohter's moral outbursts and undeserved criticism (as rightly most Brazilians will). The book demonstrates he really knows Brazilian culture (a couple of blunders apart), but in those hapless chapters he not also shows his Anglo-Saxon bias but also displays the typical carioca (inhabitant of Rio de Janeiro) shortsighted view of the rest of Brazil, which is much more than Rio, Bahia and Brasilia (the chapter covering beach and carnival actually refers almost exclusively to Rio de Janeiro). Not a word in the book about the cultural features of Curitiba, or the states of Sao Paulo, Parana and Santa Catarina, nor anything about the southern region in general, which together with Sao Paulo state is quite an economic model for other Latin American countries, and also has a different culture and idiosyncrasy not found anywhere in the book. The existing country's inequality is a sad fact, but it is mainly related to poverty, lack of opportunities for a decent education, no matter the color of your skin. Also, some of the idiosyncratic features he harshly criticized are shared by most Latin American countries (Roman Catholic heritage). I wonder if Mr. Rohter has ever spent enough time in any of those other countries so that he can tell the differences and similarities.

So, shame on him, a New York Times journalist should have known better. Bringing back old fashion religious prejudices and comparing racism in the U.S with Brazil is not what you expect from someone with his experience and cultural baggage. Those unfair chapters based on his personal biases just serve to reinforce the good old stereotype about American gringos in Latin America. He should have stayed on the book's main subject or instead write two separate books. Nevertheless, I believe Mr. Rohter did an excellent job in chapters 6 through 10 and delivered what he promised in the book's title, how Brazil was able to achieve such progress in agribusiness, sustainable energy and energy independence (chapters 6 and 7), its controversial stewardship of the Amazon (chapter 8), and how "the country of the future" finally seems to be getting there and Brazil aspirations in the global stage (chapter 9 and 10).

For a broader analysis of the Brazilian economy and its political history (that Mr Rohter deals in just two chapters) I do recommend The New Brazil, also published in 2010. Its style is more academic like, but readable for the general public and without cultural biases or moral judgement, just stays in the policies and the economics, and its historic evolution. Nevertheless, Rohter's short explanation behind Brazil's spectacular take off is much more detailed, while "The New Brazil" just looks at it from the macroeconomic point of view.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Only good in part September 25, 2010

By Erico Stern

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I awaited this book with great hopes, but these were fulfilled only in part.- The Introduction is excellent, it is based on Stefan Zweig's famous title "Brazil The Country of the Future".- And the last five chapters (6 to 10), which are about Brazil's economy and politics, are extremely informative and very illuminating.-
However, I was very surprised, disappointed and indignant about the first five chapters,because I found them intolerably critical and negative.- To take only one example: Chapter Three ("The Myth of a Racial Paradise") attempts, unconvincingly, to demonstrate that Racism in Brazil, against black people and mulattos, is worse than even in the South of the United States.-