Customer Reviews

Tent of Miracles

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The name Jorge Amado has been largely ignored by most of the English-speaking world. His passing did not even warrant a note in the NY Times despite his works having been translated into thirty-one languages, filmed, and serialized as soap operas. His books contain some of the most beautiful prose written. There is no limit to the quality of this, in my opinion, his best work. Amado's talent for showing the beauty and glory in the mundane is unmatched. That minor gesture, this habit, those pecularities of character, all become mountains. The protagonist, Pedro Archanjo, is both a free-spirited, entertaining, beloved rogue and a fierce activist for social justice. The locale of Bahía is the home of this tale and the setting could not be better. After an American intellectual celebrity 'discovers' the writings of Pedro Archanjo, a race is on to show who was the biggest supporter of the man who has now become a hero, posthumously. The story occurs along two lines, one is in Archanjo's lifetime and the second during the hoopla generated decades later by the professor from Columbia University. Both tales are resplendent reflections of Bahían life. One has the poverty-stricken barrio of Archanjo's residence with cardsharks, gangsters, capoeiristas and sporting houses. The other modern discos, celebrity worship, and the fantastic possibilities of memory. The tale demonstrates well and humorously the appropriation of history by the present for its own purposes. There are too many wonderful aspects of this novel to describe in this small space. I recommend this novel to anyone who asks for the reason that even with the strife that takes place in it, this book contains a world completely enviable because the people in it seem far more alive than almost any we meet in life.

To me, this is the most important and the best book by Jorge. The book is about the life of Pedro Archanjo, a mulatto man who spent his whole life fighting prejudice. The book teaches you about the Roguish lifestyle Archanjo lived, his growth and maturity and his death. It is very interesting how the interest for why Archanjo wrote grows exponentially as you keep reading. Also, the book deals with the commericalization of Archanjo after his death when an American Genius tells the Brazilian press about his respect for the land of Pedro Archanjo. Within a few days the newspapers make a big deal and lie about the life of Pedro Archanjo to sell ads. The author, a poet suffering the pangs of love, tell you about Archanjo, but also about his personal life. You may ask why I call refer to the author by first name. The reason is because after reading most of his books, I feel like I know him and I tell that this is a must read(this book has the most untraslated terms than any other of Jorge's books, which makes it so much better). If you like Jorge, please email me.

Tent of Miracles (THE AMERICAS)

Another Masterpiece by Jorge Amado

Although not as fast a read as "Dona Flor and her Two Husbands" or "Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon", "Tent of Miracles" is an outstanding piece of work which relates the entire life and the posthumous celebration of the Centennial of Birth of the mulatto Pedro Archanjo, alias Ojuobá- the Eyes of the King-. Archanjo's struggle throughout his entire life centers around racism, the wellbeing of the mix breed and the understanding of miscegenation in the Brazilian area of Bahia from the early 1900's until the time of his death around the end of WWII. Archanjo is a womanizer, a studhorse who could have only sons, an autodidact who mastered several languages, a grand buddy and companion, a performer of voodoo ceremonies with a free laugh, a dancer, a great conversationalist and listener, a sociologist, an anthropologist, an ethnologist, and, principally, an utterly excellent reader and writer.

Nevertheless, he does not put pen to paper on anything: the core of his work lies on the lives and struggles of the mestizo race and on proving, without little doubt, that the Brazilian face is a mestizo face and its culture is mestizo. He actually accomplishes to put in writing four books, rather pamphlets, namely: "Daily Life in Bahia", "The African Influence on the Customs of Bahia", "Notes on Miscegenation in the Families of Bahia" and a "Cookbook". "Notes on Miscegenation..." was written when he was about fifty years old and proves that no single family in the area was pure white. As a matter of fact, pure or Aryan race was a thing that did not exist in Bahia or in Brazil for all that matters. These facts, which were supported with great evidence, brought about great controversies among the stiff nosed so-called whites of the region. The voodoos ceremonies were prohibited and prosecuted by the police, the intermarriages were just about forbidden or very badly considered and the mulattos, Negroes or mestizos were considered no better than animals.
But what really stroke me was the real friendship that Archanjo was able to pursue with his - so called- twin brother: Lidio Corro, the Miracle Painter at the Tent of Miracles. They both were in love with the same woman, Rosa de Oxalá, however, Archanjo, who could have had the woman he wanted, let go of her for Lidio's sake. The book is also filled with myriad voodoo ceremonies, dances, faithfulness, enchantments, convictions and terminology.

And last, but not least, you get the benefit of a myriad examples of "magical realism" within this wonderful prose.

It is definitely worth the read.

The pursuits of knowlegdge and the importance of true friendship come together well in this book. The characters are so vivid, you might as well be there in person. If you want to live the adventure, Amado is the one to read.

When I first read "Tent of Miracles" in the early 1970s, I fell in love with it. Of all of Jorge Amado's novels I have read, this is probably my favorite. I say "probably", because it's hard to pick a favorite out of so many fine works. Reading it again after more than thirty years, I am pulled in all over again to the streets of Salvador, Bahia, following the mulatto Pedro Archanjo in his rambles, his conversations, his love affairs and his obsession with telling the story of his people in four books published by friend and "brother", the miracle painter Lidio Corró.

"Tent of Miracles" is about Bahia's African and mestizo people, their rich culture, their poverty, and their struggle against the racism, with Pedro as their advocate and champion. It's also about his "rediscovery" by the North American Nobel Prize winner and scholar, James D. Levenson, whose attention makes Archanjo the focus of a major "cultural event" that celebrates the 100th anniversary of his birth. The celebration turns out to be a monumental farce in which Pedro Archanjo's memory is laundered and turned into a commercial icon. In 1969 he's still too uncomfortable to the political powers to leave him as he was in "real life", a "donnadie" (Mr. Nobody), a self-educated man of the people whose life ended at age 75 when he died of a heart attack on the way to the room an old friend had given him in a brothel.

It's too bad Amado has been largely forgotten by North American readers; he is far too good for that. It wasn't too long ago that I could find him on the shelves of Barnes & Noble and all of his books on Amazon. Amado, who died in 2001 (he was born in 1912), is one of America's foremost writers. For me, rereading him is like getting together with old friends and taking up where we left off the last time we met. I know exactly what neighborhood I am in, where we're going next, and who we'll meet. I can hear the talk and the laughter, smell the smells of the street and the food, and hear the singing and the sounds of the guitar, berimbau and drum.

If you haven't read "Tent of Miracles", buy a copy and read it. The New York Times called it "a most enjoyable romp", which is like calling a drop-dead beauty "a nice-looking gal": way, way too insipid to fit the reality.

My hat is off to the University of Wisconsin Press for bringing this book out in this fine paperback edition. It sure has set me on fire again!

George Polley
Sapporo, Japan

Tent of Miracles (THE AMERICAS)

This is an excellent book! This novel will take you on a grand adventure through Brazilian culture, starting with the birth of the protagonist, Pedro Archanjo, in the late 19th century to the 1960's. The story is of the life of Pedro Archanjo, a man of humble means who matures into a novelist and chronicler of the culture and customs of the Bahia state within Brazil. Major themes within the book are the Brazilian prejudices and biases against blacks/mulattoes and the religion that they practise --what we would calll vodoo. The origins of vodoo, and a helpful index of its terms, are discussed at well.

The book is quite entertaining and replete with ribald and nuanced characters. This novel definitely left me with a greater appreciation for the history, culture and development of Brazil.

Firstly, I would like to mention that this book was "assigned reading" for a Latin America history class. However, within the first few pages, the lines did not feel like homework. Armado weaves a picutre of Bahian life so vivid that you feel you are walking behind the characters; hence the need to brush the Brazilian dirt. His story gave much insight into Brazilian life and centered, as the other reviewers have mentioned, on the mestizo/mullato struggle. I can only offer one suggestion to future readers: although it's not absolutely necessary, it would enrich the journey through the story if the reader knew at least something about macumba -- black witchcraft or voodoo. I didn't and I wished I had.

This is a book you won't regret reading. There are some great tidbits of true genius.

This is all the wonderful storytelling and remarkable characters that one expects from Amado. If you have read other works by him you will not be disappointed and if this is the first you will want to read more.

This is a ribald, subtle, funny, and culturally informed novel about race, class, and culture in the northeast of Brazil. Some think that Amado is either too ideological in his early works or too formulaic in his later books. Others say that he, like Gilberto Freyre, tends to romanticize and perpetuate the myth of Brazil's racial democracy. Others find his erotic descriptions sexist and stereotypical. But I think Amado's critics miss the spirit and power of this book. Contained in TENT OF MIRACLES is one of the great narratives -and comedies- of cultural expropriation and commodification that you'll ever read. I think it's a classic.

Others here have done a great job describing this masterpiece, with the interweaving lines of the present and past, the rewriting of history and obsession with celebrity, the past, and Pedro Archanjo. Fabulous! But for me, in it all is a humanity and love the blasts out from subtle observations, the turn of a phrase, or a magical digression.

I read Gabriella Clove and Cinnamon first and completely loved it. (I was 80 pages in before I realized that Amado was becoming my favorite author of all time.) The same flavor of life, colors, cadence, and humanity are here, and so wonderfully told that I found myself reading a page, half a page, or less and just stopping to savor it and delight. Yeah, I'm gushing and that's unprofessional, but Amado's masterpieces are just too great, and I'm strugging here.

If you just love a good book that will deliver you to another world and time, this should make a great read. If you love literature, classics, you'll love this book too. (And maybe study it at some point.) Please take a chance and read this or Gabriella or Dona Flore; all absolute must-read classics of modern literature. There are colors and smells and characters; and a wisdom and love comes through so naturally. This book is a delight, and one of my absolute favorites of all time.