Lost Samba [Kindle Edition]

Richard Klein (Author)

Book Description

‘Richard is half Brazilian half British and Jewish and is your guide on this roller coaster ride through Rio de Janeiro's most exciting years beginning in the military sponsored Brazilian “Economic Miracle” of the sixties and ending at the depths of the 1980s Brazilian economic catastrophe. This son of a Holocaust survivor shows the kaleidoscopic Brazilian culture and way of life in a tropical version of "Catcher in the Rye" that engulfs the country's passion for football, its rich musical traditions, journeys to it's exotic regions and the saga of a country discovering itself in the middle of the turbulence of the seventies and the eighties.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Klein, born 1962. Grew up in Rio de Janeiro with british/jewish Parents. Studied Economics in Brazil, worked as a Computer Graphics artist in major blockbusters and is an accomplished musician with 400.000 hits on Youtube. He has lived in Paris, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Glasgow and now is based in London. This is his first book and it has an innovative approach to authoring using his website www.lostsamba.com and his Facebook page www.facebook.com/LostSamba as a visual support for his book.

Product Details

• File Size: 306 KB
• Print Length: 192 pages
• Publisher: self (February 13, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00791OM34
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #623,416 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating BUT ... December 3, 2012

By Andrea Kurian

Format:Kindle Edition

Somewhere in between the Kindle pages of this book lies a good story. Unfortunately, it's buried in a string of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and bad editing. For instance, the author seems confused on "losing". As far as I know, there is no such word as "loosing". Loose is the opposite of tight, so loosening?

Then, there was the over-usage of "it". It did this. It did that. It went here. It went there... I think this is the one that really got to me. IT made the book difficult to read and so hard to understand the story.

Overall, reading this book was like eating a half-baked cake. Some bits were baked and others were icky. Given time with a really good editor or even a professional proofreader, this book would have turned out completely different.

Would I recommend this read? Not really, until the issues are fixed.

Overall assessment:
Content: 3.5/5
Editing: 2/5
Formatting: 4.5/5
Pacing: 3/5
Offensive content?: Mature readers, at least 18+

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the author through Orangeberry Book Tours. I did not receive any payment in exchange for this review nor was I obliged to write a positive one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Klein is a brilliant story teller September 2, 2012

By Johann David Renner

Format:Paperback

Every now and then you come across a book you can't put down. It is midnight and you are still reading; it is two am, the same. Lost Samba turned out to be such a book. It is a memoir about a young man growing up in a world most of us know little about. The book is filled with fascinating historical facts, with personal stories of exuberance and regrets. The book provides insights into the lives of young people in Brazil in the 1970s, 1980s... It combines these insights skilfully with what is happening in the lives of their parents, with the economy, in politics and many other aspects of Brazil's society. There is humour in this book, for example when the book's protagonist who is also its author had sex (at a very young age) and at the same time in a room next door one of his mates had a little accident, or about the protagonist's first cooking adventure. The author, Richard Klein, is a brilliant story teller. The book is fast flowing. Things are happening. The reader develops an understanding of many cultural aspects of Brazil, but there are also sad parts like the destruction of Brazil's forest areas, the incompetence of politicians and what it means to live in a time in country with such a high inflation that for the money that buys you a house today you can only buy a cup of coffee fifteen years later. The book is full of fascinating travel stories. As in any book there are a few weak areas, but I won't even bother mentioning them because I hardly noticed them and they didn't diminish my reading pleasure by one iota. I recommend this book highly and give it five stars without hesitation. Reviewed by Fred Schäfer, author of The Short and Wonderful Life of Henry Hemingway. (Johann David Renner is Fred's literary double.)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, very entertaining and educational April 1, 2012

By Randy Hayes

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Thank you for writing this book! I lived in Rio during the 60s and always wondered what it might have been like if I had stayed. Now I know. Great job, very entertaining and well written!

More About the Author

Richard Klein, born 1962. Grew up in Rio de Janeiro with british/jewish Parents. Studied Economics in Brazil, worked as a Computer Graphics artist in major blockbusters and is an accomplished musician with 400.000 hits on Youtube. He has lived in Paris, Lisbon, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo and Glasgow and now is based in London. This is his first book and it has an innovative approach to authoring using his website www.lostsamba.com and his Facebook page www.facebook.com/LostSamba as a visual support for his book.