A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions

http://pergelator.blogspot.com/2009/06/death-in-brazil-by-peter-robb.html ( )

A Death in Brazil is a deep dive into Brazilian history, culture, and politics. Peter Robb takes the reader on a wild ride of his own travels in the country, taking frequent detours as far back as the 16th century discuss the country's economic development and the impact of slavery. He also describes in great detail the drama of Brazilian politics in the 1990s, comparing it (rightly so, it seems) to popular television soap operas of the day.

This was an interesting view of a country whose culture and history I know little about. Robb is an excellent writer, able to bring his subject matter to life with colorful, vivid portrayals of the country and its people. Only two things detracted from this novel for me: first, Robb used italics when citing other sources; however, he did not use footnotes so it was often unclear whether the phrase was a citation, or was italicized for emphasis. Second, Robb would travel back in history without reference to dates. I often found myself consulting the chronology included as an appendix. While this was useful, the frequent need to do so was annoying after a time.

Nevertheless, for someone interested in an immersion in Brazilian culture, this is a well-written and informative book. ( )