From prizewinning journalist and Brazilian native Juliana Barbassa comes a deeply reported and beautifully written account of the seductive and chaotic city of Rio de Janeiro as it struggles with poverty and corruption on the brink of the 2016 Olympic Games.
Juliana Barbassa moved a great deal throughout her life, but Rio was always home. After twenty-one years abroad, she returned to find her native city—once ravaged by inflation, drug wars, corrupt leaders, and dying neighborhoods—undergoing a major change.
Rio has always aspired to the pantheon of global capitals, and under the spotlight of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games it seems that its moment has come. But in order to prepare itself for the world stage, Rio must vanquish the entrenched problems that Barbassa recalls from her childhood. Turning this beautiful but deeply flawed place into a pristine showcase of the best that Brazil has to offer in just a few years is a tall order—and with the whole world watching, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Library Journal called Dancing with the Devil in the City of God “akin to Charlie LeDuff’s Detroit”—a book that “combines history and personal interviews in an informative and engaging work.” This kaleidoscopic portrait of Rio introduces the reader to the people who make up this city of extremes, revealing their aspirations and their grit, their violence, their hungers, and their splendor, and shedding light on the future of this city they are building together.
Dancing with the Devil in the City of God is an insider perspective from a native daughter and “a fascinating look at the people who live in and aspire to change one of the world’s most impressive cities” (Booklist, starred review).

- 336 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
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Table of contents
- Cover
- Dedication
- Map
- Epigraph
- Introduction: Or, Is God Brazilian?
- Chapter 1: Rio, Home
- Chapter 2: The Rise of the Red Command
- Chapter 3: Whacking the Weeds
- Chapter 4: Fear and Heat
- Chapter 5: In the Heart of Evil
- Chapter 6: Not for Beginners
- Chapter 7: Itâs Complicated, Querida
- Chapter 8: Saving Themselves
- Chapter 9: Beautiful and Broken
- Chapter 10: The First Carioca
- Chapter 11: Long Live Construction
- Chapter 12: The Business of Sex
- Chapter 13: Love is Essential
- Chapter 14: Dignified Living Conditions
- Chapter 15: We Built This City
- Chapter 16: The World Belongs to the Daring
- Chapter 17: Futebol Nation
- Chapter 18: The Cup of Cups
- Photographs
- Afterword
- Acknowledgments
- Glossary
- Reading Group Guide
- About the Author
- Bibliography
- Index
- Copyright
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Yes, you can access Dancing with the Devil in the City of God by Juliana Barbassa in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Latin American & Caribbean History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.