FAO Quotables

"But being right, even morally right, isn't everything. It is also important to be competent, to be consistent, and to be knowledgeable. It's important for your soldiers and diplomats to speak the language of the people you want to influence. It's important to understand the ethnic and tribal divisions of the place you hope to assist."
-Anne Applebaum

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Brazil book recommendations (in chronological order)

I've been in Brazil for five months now and still feel myself battle with imposter's syndrome on an almost daily basis.  I have a colleague who often says "Brazil is not for beginners"....yeah, tell me about it. Aside from the language, it's a country that's nearly a continent unto itself and that presents a bewildering landscape and breadth of people, and culture to understand.  From para ingles ver to the "Brazilian No" serai interessante que I learn something new every day.

When I found out I would be an Africa FAO some 13 years ago, I dove headlong into devouring every book and article I could find on the continent.  

And so I continue that habit here in Brazil.  After you first read Brazil: A Biography, I recommend you read list below (in their chronological order of publication).  I didn't read them in chronological order personally (I actually did it in reverse) and am realizing now as I read a "A Death in Brazil" that it would have been useful to digest the stories and reporting in a more linear fashion.  Caveat: the Brazil Biography is loooong...so maybe read it while you read through the list below.  

  1. A Death in Brazil (2004)
  2. The Invisibles (2007)
  3. Dancing with the Devil in the City of God (2015)
  4. Brazillionaires (2016)
  5. Collector of Leftover Souls (2019)

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