Michael Palin, the No.1 bestselling author, explores an exotic country that is now a global superpower.
Brazil is one of the four new global super powers with its vast natural resources and burgeoning industries. Half a continent in size and a potent mix of races, religions and cultures, of unexplored wildernesses and bustling modern cities, it is also one of the few countries Michael Palin has never fully travelled. His timely book and series take a closer look at a remarkable new force on the world scene.
From the Venezuelan border and the forests of the Lost World, where he encounters the Yanomami tribe and their ongoing territorial war with the gold miners, Michael Palin explores this vast and disparate nation in his inimitable way. He journeys into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. He travels down the north-east coast to meet the descendants of African slaves with their vibrant culture of rituals, festivals and music. He visits the shanty towns of Rio and the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. He goes to Sao Paolo, where the rich commute by helicopter. He travels south to meet German and Japanese communities, meets supermodels in the making and wealthy gauchos in the Pantanal before ending his journey at the spectacular Iguaçu Falls.
Brazil is one of the four new global super powers with its vast natural resources and burgeoning industries. Half a continent in size and a potent mix of races, religions and cultures, of unexplored wildernesses and bustling modern cities, it is also one of the few countries Michael Palin has never fully travelled. His timely book and series take a closer look at a remarkable new force on the world scene.
From the Venezuelan border and the forests of the Lost World, where he encounters the Yanomami tribe and their ongoing territorial war with the gold miners, Michael Palin explores this vast and disparate nation in his inimitable way. He journeys into the heart of the Amazon rainforest. He travels down the north-east coast to meet the descendants of African slaves with their vibrant culture of rituals, festivals and music. He visits the shanty towns of Rio and the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. He goes to Sao Paolo, where the rich commute by helicopter. He travels south to meet German and Japanese communities, meets supermodels in the making and wealthy gauchos in the Pantanal before ending his journey at the spectacular Iguaçu Falls.
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Reviews
Simply because he is on television, people forget how well Michael Palin writes, as evidenced in Brazil. A vivid synoptic take on a vast, unpredictable country, this book holds its own against more self-consciously literary works about Brazil.
A fascinating picture of a nation that, through the three cultural markers of language, music and food, is triumphantly self-defined and ceaselessly inventive. Palin does his job as a travel writer very well indeed.
Michael Palin brings his trademark charm and enthusiasm to this timely introduction to the country that is about to host the World Cup and the next Olympic Games.
Full of warmth and humour, Palin's latest offering is a vibrant account of people he meets as he travels around the vast nation - a must-read for anyone heading to this year's World Cup or the Rio Olympics in 2016
Palin does his job as a travel writer very well indeed. He knows how to entertain the reader at first, resists any temptation to lecture, then builds up a slow boil of interest before teasing out some answers through some skilful interviewing. The resulting mosaic of opinions draws out a fascinating composite picture of a nation.
Michael Palin's Brazil is a good primer, written in the same chatty style as he uses in the television series
The prose of his travel writing is... economical, descriptive and rarely repetitive, making for a fluid, compulsive and engrossing read.