Brazil on the Rise: The Story of a Country Transformed

This account of Brazil is very contemporary and clearly written. The author knows his subject well,and presents social, economic and historical issues in a highly readable manner. For someone whowants a basic understanding of Brazil, this is a great book to start with.On the plus side, the author hits hard at the issues that are most important for the rise of Brazilinto the twenty-first century. He spent many years in the country as a journalist, and the anecdoteshe shares with the reader, based on his personal experience, are like little gems.On the negative side, his first four chapters seem to me a bit heavy-handed in their depiction of thedown side of Brazilian culture. It may create a total misconception about the country for anyonereading the book who is not familiar with Brazil, its culture, and its history. For example, thebeautiful beaches of Rio de Janeiro are stratified by class, Carnival is commercialized, and socceris corrupt. All this might be true, but should that be the primary focus of these three topics?Other than this criticism, I want to emphasize that the book is very, very good. It is especiallygood because, as a journalist, the author has personally talked with key players in Brazilianculture and politics over a period of many years. He is very much attuned to the sociology, economicsand politics of the country.One author he mentions is the Brazilian anthropologist Roberto DaMatta. A great book to read aboutBrazilian culture is DaMatta's O Que Faz O Brasil, Brasil? It is available on Amazon, but only inPortuguese. DaMatta has keen insight, a witty style, and the cartoon drawings to illustrate histhemes are hilarious! Another good book on Brazilian culture by an American author is The Brazilians,by Joseph A. Page, available on Amazon, too (in English).Hmm, I think if you really want to know Brazil, learn the language, neh?I am giving Brazil on the Rise four starts instead of five only because I felt uneasy about thepresentation of the first four chapters.

The author of this book is a seasoned journalist who has been a watcher of Brazil for more than 40 years. For 15 years, he was the Bureau Chief for the New York Times in Rio de Janeiro. He is married to a Brazilian.He writes a fantastic book, in my opinion, that is full of insight and information about the transformation of the Brazilian economy over the past 20-30 years. His story starts with his recollections of the country in the early `70s: a censored press, a repressive military dictatorship and a backward economy primarily dependent on the exportation of sugar and coffee.Today, Brazil, with more than 200 million people, has the fourth largest Democracy and the sixth largest economy in the world. It abounds with natural resources, such as extensive farmland, water, oil and gas, and many minerals. Per the author, the promise of agriculture is so great for Brazil that he says it could the "Planet's breadbasket," if it needed to be. Currently, agriculture represents 40% of the nation's exports. The U.S. imports something like 90% of its frozen orange juice from Brazil. It is the world's leading exporter of coffee, and is second behind the U.S. in the production of soybeans. It also exports more beef than any country in the world, and it has twice the number of cattle as the U.S. In 2009, China replaced the U.S. as Brazil's leading trade partner, largely because of the exporting of iron ore to China.Thus, the real story of modern Brazil has been the rise of its economy. Forty years ago, Brazil was considered a "developing" country. Its natural resources were, essentially, for sale. Per capita income was about $1,000 per year. Phone service was limited, as was the development of major industries, other than coffee and sugar. But the decision was made to limit imports via high tariffs and to invite manufacturers to build factories in Brazil to manufacture their products. San Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, became the country's economic engine. Today, Brazil is on the world's stage, especially since its selection to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.But Brazil has growing pains. Today, it lacks sufficient infrastructure. It has a very limited rail system; most of the country is without paved roads; and, its airports, ports and other international facilities lack the standards and quality needed to absorb the projected growth.And Brazil also has shame of its past: Most of its native people were decimated. Less than one million descendants survive today. And, the country has the shame of its horrible history of slavery and the sugar plantations. But an ironic twist relating to the history of slavery, Brazil, today, has more people of Japanese ancestry in any country other than Japan. (Japanese laborers were imported to work the coffee plantations after slavery was abolished.) The author makes the point that Brazil, collectively, has yet to confront the same of its past.The country also reeks of inequality, and much of that has to do with skin color. More than half of Brazilians claim African descent via their census forms. But only about 10 percent remain dark Black. In fact, most Brazilians of mixed decent do not consider themselves "Black." They consider themselves "mixed" or "mulatto."Also, Brazil has a long way to go to improve its public education, health care, general standards of living, and middle-class wages. It also has a history of racial class distinctions and of bribery of government officials. And, it has a history of social hierarchies and of "privilege."But Brazil also has Rio de Janeiro, with its nearly 60 beaches and more than 100 miles of oceanfront land. Officially, Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world. But, as in most of Latin American, the percentage of Catholics is giving way to the rising percentage of protestants.In summary, the above is only some of the insight and information contained in this excellent book. There are sections on the history of Brazilian literature, music and other arts. There are details on political history, including personal insights of the makeup of recent Brazilian presidents and their pros and cons. The author talks about the food, the production of ethanol, and the general nature of Brazilian society. There is also a full chapter on the Amazon and how this amazing resource challenges the government to both conserve and exploit. (90% of Brazil's electricity now comes from hydroelectric power.)I found the book to be an excellent read. I highly recommend it.

Excellent book. I don't agree with everything Larry says, just because he lived many years in Brazil desn't make him an exeprt in understanding the Brazilian Culture completely. Brazil is a large country and some comments wouldn't apply to certain parts of Brazil. However, it's a very informative book, interesting to read if you are interested in Brazilian business and culture, but remember it's a point of view of an American. I recommend this book to my students willing to travel or work in Brazil.

For anyone interested in the complex and amazing country of Brazil this will be enthralling. I've always been interested in Brazil largely because of the football - but I couldn't put this down. It covers all aspects of the culture, history, politics, society - but never dull or stuffy, hugely entertaining, interesting and extremely well-researched.

I followed the advice of reviewer Emc2.Chapter 1, and chapters 6 through 10 are a must read for anyone interested in understanding the Brazilian economic miracle and it's where we see Larry Rohter's journalistic prowess.As for the rest he fell into the expat error of continuing to look through anglo-saxon eyes and passing moral and religous judgements based on subjective opinions without objectivity.Despite this you can really feel his love and passion for Brazil.

the best

For me the book displays Biased worldview. As to Brazil itself, he focus too much in Rio de Janeiro. It is for the most part a caricature. Deserves an extra star for pointing the drama of slave labor, that still plagues the country's interior.O autor do livro possui uma visão um tanto negativa do Brasil. Sabemos que nosso país tem muitos problemas, mas sugiro que os colegas leitores invistam suas economias em viagens o tanto possível: vejam com os próprios olhos. Em geral, o povo brasileiro é muito amigo e não é não possui tantos defeitos como se leva a crer. Existem muitas pessoas sérias e competentes no Brasil e isso tem ajudado o País a melhorar, apesar dos pesares.Dei cinco estrelas, porque não concordo com muita coisa que Rohter escreve, mas merece elogio ter escrito um livro sobre nosso país quando muitos professores e jornalistas brasileiros não o fizeram. Ele pelo menos tentou e, bem ou mal, o livro ajuda a refletir.