Culture Shock! Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! Guides) [Paperback]

Volker Poelzl (Author)

Book Description

Series: Culture Shock! Guides | Publication Date: November 2009

A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette in Brazil

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Volker Poelzl is a Marshall Cavendish author.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation (November 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761456600
• ISBN-13: 978-0761456605
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #322,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Travel > Latin America > South America > Brazil

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An essential read for those that are going to live in, or seek to understand Brazil., October 21, 2007

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cultureshock! Brazil (Cultureshock Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)

I have read and reread this excellent ethonography. I read Culture Shock! Brazil before coming to Brazil, then again while traveling in Brazil. Volker Poelzl has done his homework. He has given readers brilliant profile of Brazil. This is no easy task, as Brazil is as large as the continental United States and equally as diverse.

Culture Shock! will give you everything that you need for a primer education on Brazil. It will specially be valuable to those who are coming to live for a while and for along with a travel guide like Frommer's (Strongly Recommended - see my review) will open the country up to you. I especially appreciated his sections on synergistic religions: Candomble, Kardecism, Umbanda, Shamanism, Feticaria (witchcraft) etc. Excellent.

Brazil is as dynamic as its Carnivals. It is also contradictory and contrasting, as seen in its wealth and poverty. The towering new high-rise buildings, that look down on the sprawling slums point to a country with the world's 12th largest economy, yet 1/3 of the people live in abject poverty. Volker is not Pollyannaish in his writing about Brazil. He is critical of the antiquated social elitism, cronyism, corruption, police violence, gross injustice and dysfunctional socials systems that continues to foster the widespread poverty - "Brazil is a democracy. But what I see here is a wretched, sad situation where there is no justice." Yet, he also shows how the people of Brazil, in spite of poverty, have their family, friends, love, sexuality, music and dance.

NOTE: Volker Poelzl's guide should get a five star rating, BUT there is a serious flaw: the binding gives out after one use and the pages fall out. This shoddy workmanship is the responsibility of the publisher (Marshall Cavendish - Singapore). However, if you can hold it together with rubber bands, this is a valuable and 'Strongly Recommended' guide.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Culture Shock! Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette, March 14, 2010

By 

Dr. Virginia M. Pearson (USA or Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Culture Shock! Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette (Culture Shock! Guides) (Paperback)

I am Brazilian. This book describes Brazil very well, and the author did a very good job in all the topics he included. It has a good overview of religions, history of the country, Brazilian way of living, and so on. The only thing I would improve is the Portuguese language. There are several mistakes. Here are some corrections: Carro = car (and not carriage), Wine = vinho (not vino), Easter = páscoa (and not pascua), on top of = em cima de (and not encima de); because = porque, why = por que. Boa noite = can be either good evening or good night. The numbers 16, 17, 18 and 19 in Portuguese are dezesseis, dezessete, dezoito e dezenove. The expression "ter dor de cotovelo" (to have elbow pain) is applied to the following situation: A person (A) who is very envious or jealous of the person (B) for something that A wants, but does not have, and B has. It could be anything: a girlfriend, a house, a car, etc. In this case A is said to have "dor de cotovelo" related to the person B.
Well, I hope this helped.

Dr. Virginia Pearson
Cross-Cultural facilitator
Ph.D. in Cross-Cultural Psychology and International Management
[e-mail]

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hit the nail on the head!, September 3, 2009

By 

Michael Dolack (Hackensack, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cultureshock! Brazil (Cultureshock Brazil: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)

I recently visited Brazil with my wife who is originally from there. I am just a Gringoe, born and raised in New Jersey, USA. Throughout our stay I would constantly refer to the book to better understand the culture. I have to say that everything I had experienced was mentioned to the detail in this book. My Father-In-Law grew up there and even he was impressed. In fact, I think he even learned a thing or two about Brazil!!! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone traveling to Brazil who is not familiar. Tchau!!!