WHY IS THIS COUNTRY DANCING? [Hardcover]

John Krich (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 19, 1993

The author of Music in Every Room plunges into the rich contradictions of Brazil with an in-depth study of how the country incorporates music into its daily life and into its rituals for mourning and celebration. 15,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Over the course of three years during the late 1980s, Krich ( El Beisbol ) traveled from Rio to Sao Paulo to Sao Luis to Bahia to Recife to tiny Exu to create this uneven travelogue. In keeping with Brazil's famed fertility, each town has its own sound: some, such as samba , bossa nova and lambada , are well known; others, like carimbo , forro and baiao , are not. Most are represented in mini-discographies after each chapter called "Music to Read By." Those three years translated into three carnivals as well, in Bahia, Recife/Olinda and Rio, though Krich participates in the latter, as most Brazilians do, only through the overwrought television coverage. But it is the musicians who steal the show, men mostly who have combined music from Brazil's European, aboriginal and, above all, African roots with lyrics from the country's experiences of poverty, segregation, dictatorship and torture. Brazil is colorful enough (witness Alma Guillermoprieto's straightforward but interesting book, Samba ) without Krich's hyper-tinted prose, a collection of the pleonastic ("decadent decay"), the scatological (" samba of the 'Turd World' ") or just simplistic ("Brazilian television, like Brazilian culture, is fixed somewhere around the third grade.").
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

To answer the question posed by the title, Krich offers a thoroughly captivating exploration of a nation's soul through an examination of its music. His encounters with such notable musicians as Milton Nascimento, Caetano Veloso, and Gilberto Gil communicate the centrality of music in Brazilian culture. A unique offering is the discographies at the end of each chapter, which provide access to the rhythms described in the preceding pages. Why Is This Country Dancing? not only serves as a superb introduction to the sounds of samba, forro, and frevo but it initiates the reader to this vast nation's language, history, and socioeconomic conditions. This work is certain to appeal to a broad audience and is highly recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Stephen Newcomer, Los Angeles P.L.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (February 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067176814X
• ISBN-13: 978-0671768140
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,290,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Krich Could Have Done Better, September 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: WHY IS THIS COUNTRY DANCING? (Hardcover)

This is supposed to be a book about Brazilian music, but it's obvious the author knows nothing about the subject. He meets some of the most illustrious names in MPB, yet asks inane questions or tries to be funny at their expense. Many times it seems as if he had never heard the music of the person he was interviewing. In addition, each page is full of factual errors and misspelled Portuguese words. If you like Krich's flippant writing style you may like the book. But if you want to learn about Brazilian music, go elsewhere.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why in This Country Dancing, May 1, 2010

By 

Thomas J. O'donnell "former resident of Brazil" (Tucson,Az) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why is This Country Dancing?: A One-Man Samba to the Beat of Brazil (Paperback)

An excellent, accurate and entertaining account of the interaction between Brazilian music, politics and social structure.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars looking through samba-colored glasses, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: WHY IS THIS COUNTRY DANCING? (Hardcover)

Well, I have to disagree somewhat with the comments of my amateur book-reviewing collegues. This is not a book about Brazilian music, it's a book about Brazil seen through it's music. I'll agree that as a book about Brazilian music, it fails miserably. As a book about Brazil... well it doesn't succeed, but only because no country or populace in the world can truly be understood through just one viewpoint. Brazil=music is a handy way of ttrying to look at the subject, but ultimately as false as any other single assumption. Laudibly, Krich is observent enough to write about the harsh realities that lie behind Brazil's image of sun, samba, and mulattas (Therefore 2 stars instead of just 1). Nevertheless, the end result is the same as if a foreigner wrote about the U.S. as interpreted through jazz after visiting L.A., Chicago, and New York and then taking a bus tour through the Deep South. A good itinerary to write about jazz, but not if you are writing about the country as a whole. The base premise defeats the purpose of the book.