Dancing with the Devil in the City of God: Rio de Janeiro on the Brink

“Dancing with the Devil in the City of God,” by Juliana BarbassaBook ReviewAugust 5, 2016By George FulmoreThis book will give one insight into Rio je Janeiro. It’s written by a journalist who was born in Brazil, then moved several times, but retained her fluency in Portuguese. She returned to Rio as a journalist to work for the AP before the World Cup in 2014, then stays afterward to continue her insights leading up to the Olympic games.Perhaps her ultimate insight comes near the end of the book when she says that having the Brazilian soccer team humiliated in the World Cup by a German team in the semi-finals stripped the pillars of the Brazilian façade, that being that samba, soccer and Carnival were enough to sustain the nation’s image in the world. But, now, with much of that gone, it would be time for discussions on what was failing in Brazil and how the country could move on.But the bulk of the book is a series of themes, built from areas of expertise and real experiences of the author living and writing in Rio. She reviews the economic hard times of the 1980s in Brazil, and tells us that in 1982, Brazil was, essentially, broke. This was followed by the economic boom that happened in the first decade the new century and even during the period of the Great Recession in the U.S. Brazilian banks had done better than those in the U.S., plus China was buying raw materials from Brazil to continue its growth.There are several chapters on the gangs and the favelas and the pacification of such by the police and armed forces. She also tells us of the incredible red tape involved with leasing an apartment in Rio. And she recaps the details of the terrible land movements and loses of life in areas outside of Rio in 2011, when there was a period of very heavy rain.Some of the author’s greatest insights are to tell us of the failings of Brazilian government services, such as preventing pollution in the rivers and a building a sensible way to get rid of trash. She tells us that littering is a national problem and that traffic and transportation can be a mess.There is a chapter about the LGBT community in Rio. Technically, prostitution is legal in Rio, but it is fraught with danger. Historically, the police have been corrupt. But to its credit, Rio made great strides to reverse the spread of AIDs when it was rampant in the 1990s.In the summer of 2013, there were riots in the streets protesting the way the government was spending money on the coming World Cup and Olympics. A police crackdown was brutal.The book is not a sequential look at Brazilian history. It is not even a complete look at its many social aspects. For example, there is nothing about the racial strife and complications in Brazil. There is little about the music or about the Samba Clubs. And no mention of Copacabana Beach on New Years’ Eve.The strength of the book is that it fills in historical details for those of us who have some background knowledge of Rio. And, it is a timely read now with the Olympics in town. I recommend it.

Reviewed by Jim PlattsI congratulate Juliana Barbassa, the author of the impressive book about Rio de Janeiro, a beautiful city and host to many World events. The book presents the significant problems Rio has due to its growth and the unfulfilled political promises for improvements in the city to accommodate this growth. The book is particularly important at this time when the World will be watching the Olympics and Paralympics later this year in Brazil.The book focuses on the dark realities that exist in Rio, affecting especially the lives of the more than one million of its six million citizens who live in the 1000 hillside favelas or shanty communities around the city. These realities included gang violence, lack of environmental cleanup and community infrastructure, air pollution, prostitution, and moving people out of favelas for important urban projects such as the Olympics. After working as an AP journalist in the U.S., in 2010, the Brazilian born Ms. Barbassa moved to her native city Rio where she investigated these realities continuing as an AP journalist.The book is well written with many details about her investigations, making it fast flowing and a fascinating read. It reminded me of my own experiences having visited Rio many times since my days as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1960s in Brazil, including Carnival, and, most recently, the World Cup with my family.Ms. Barbassa discusses the lack of follow through by political leaders on many commitments made for living improvements, especially for the poor in the favelas. As an AP journalist, she met with key individuals seeking to understand the problems and what these persons are doing to solve these problems. One big example of an unfulfilled commitment was cleaning up and stopping the dumping of sewage into Guanabara Bay. This commitment helped Brazil win its bid for the Olympics and it would benefit the well being of the residents, but will not likely be met. Another major example was the loss of credibility of the government when it failed to provide the emergency support promised to the towns of Nova Friburgo, Petrópolis, and Teresópolis. In 2011, these towns in the mountains outside of Rio suffered mudslides caused by heavy rains that wiped out many homes and left 1,000 people dead, including some who were never found.Since Rio's world famous Carnival, with its fabulous creativity, was not covered in the book, I am curious what Carnaval's impacts are on the city and its citizens. Perhaps Ms. Barbassa could write a sequel to this book that discusses these impacts, and how the Olympics affected Rio and Brazil, including the impressions of the attendees. Such a follow-on book could also provide a progress report on solving the problems she describes in her very outstanding first book.

fairly good reflection of what i saw in one month of research in brazil. 4 stars because it could have been a bit more engaging and i was forced to read it.

Very interesting read. Being from that country I can realy relate to her difficulty in getting things done. I was not in the country/city at the time she is writing about, but having friends still there kept me updated.I recomend the read.

Well researched and written. Very interesting and with the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics coming up very topical

As a part-time dweller in the city I can attest to the veracity of much of her analysis, especially on "Custo Brazil." Quite a few insights in there. Some of the topics she decides to dwell on seem a bit forced, as if "oh well, I met these fun LGBT folks in Lapa why not write a chapter on them?"She also got some glaring mistakes, João VI was not emperor (of Brazil) but King (of Portugal). She repeats this several times. Her English is flawless as befits somebody who grew up using it and went to college and lived in the US, like yours truly, but why translate "Tribunal de Justiça" as "Justice Tribunal"? "Court of Law" is what it should be. Some sloppy editing in there, and quite a few typos (two on just p. 278) also detract from the overall quality.

Excellent book. A detailed look into the corruption, race relations and nepotism of brazilians ( mostly white ) elite.