The Book Of Rio

It’s the city the rest of the world descends on to party…. whether for the spectacular annual Carnival, the sun-kissed beaches, the World Cup, or, in 2016, the Olympics. It’s also a place that’s sadly become synonymous with some of the excesses of partying, the dark underbelly that accompanies any urban hedonist’s destination. But these are just two images of Rio. There are countless others: opulent seat of two former empires; stronghold of brutal, twentieth-century dictatorships; sprawling metropolis stretched between stunning mountain tops and equally stunningeconomic extremes – from the affluence of neighbourhoods like Leblon and Ipanema, to the overcrowded slums in the foothills, the favelas. This anthology brings together ten short stories that go beyond the postcards and snapshots, and introduce us to real residents of Rio – the cariocas: young hopefuls training to be the next stars of samba, exhausted labourers press-ganged into meeting an impossible construction deadline (the nation’s pride being at stake), bored call-girls, nostalgic drag queens, married couples having petty middle-class domestics…. These are characters who’ve developed a deep understanding of Rio’s contradictions, a way of living with the grey areas – between the grime and the glitz – that make Rio the ‘marvellous city’ it is.

From the makers of the Ice Age films comes a high-flying tale of a bird who never learned to do what birds do best—fly! Blu, a rare blue Spix's Macaw, has everything he needs—heart, attitude . . . feathers—but he's afraid he may never soar. That's all about to change in the magical city of Rio, where Blu has incredible adventures and makes new friends who show Blu he's always had what it takes to make his dreams come true.

The women athletes of the 2016 Summer Olympics captivated the world: Simon Biles, the most decorated American gymnast of all time; Katie Ledecky, who shattered swimming records in multiple events; Michelle Carter, the first American gold medalist in shot put; Simone Manuel, the first African American woman to medal in individual swimming. Their accomplishments amazed us, as did their personal stories of persistence and hard work. The Golden Girls of Rio focuses on the paths to glory for these women athletes, how they got their start and rose to meteoric heights in the Rio games. The other swimming and gymnastic teammates are included in the story as well. An inspiring story, bursting with color and action and life, that will make you smile to see these champion athletes as little girls, and to revisit their triumphs in achieving Olympic gold.

Del Rio, California, a once-thriving Central Valley farm town, is now filled with run-down Dollar Stores, llanterias, carnicerias, and shabby mini-marts that sell one-way bus tickets straight to Tijuana on the Flecha Amarilla line. It’s a place you drive through with windows up and doors locked, especially at night—a place the locals call Cartel Country. While it’s no longer the California of postcards, for local District Attorney Callie McCall, her dying hometown is the perfect place to launch a political career and try to make a difference. But when the dismembered body of a migrant teen is found in one of Del Rio’s surrounding citrus groves, Callie faces a career make-or-break case that takes her on a dangerous journey down the violent west coast of Mexico, to a tropical paradise hiding a terrible secret, and finally back home again, where her determination to find the killer pits her against the wealthiest, most politically connected, most ruthless farming family in California: her own.

From the makers of the hit Ice Age series comes Rio, a comedy adventure about a domesticated blue Spix's Macaw named Blu, who travels to the faraway and exotic land of Rio de Janeiro to find Jewel, the only other bird of his species. Not long after Blu and his owner, Linda, arrive in Rio, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers. With the help of a group of wisecracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu will escape the kidnappers, learn to fly, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had.

'Living in Rio', both a travelogue and a look inside 20 local homes, presents an overview of the city's history, beaches, nightlife, parties, and Carioca lifestyle.

"Through artistic imaginaries, media productions, social practices and spatial mappings, this book offers an insightful and original contribution to the understanding of Rio de Janeiro, one of the highly contested urban terrains in the world. Offering a rich diversity of examples extracted from lived experience, iconographic materials, and narratives, it provides innovative and compelling connections between theoretical questions and urban vignettes. Throughout the essays, the specificity of Rio de Janeiro is highlighted but framed in relation to theoretical questions that are relevant to major contemporary cities. The book underlines the dilemmas of a city that attempts to compete globally while confronting social inequality, violence, and novel forms of democratic agency. It retraces Rio de Janeiro’s modernist memories as the former political/cultural capital of Brazilian intelligentsia and national culture. It explores Rio as a city of popular culture, mestizo legacies, media productions, and cultural innovation."

The I LOVE RIO book is based on the work of the ILOVERIO.COM portal, an ambitious project with the objective of making accurate and qualified information about Rio de Janeiro easily available globally, along with tens of thousands of unique and exclusive photographs. Defined by the media as the first city ever rebuilt on-line, I LOVE RIO provides over 25,000 pages of original content celebrating the history, culture and beauty of the city and state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "Eu Amo Rio", meaning "I love Rio", is an important local expression and a key part of the Carioca culture, therefore the phrase 'I LOVE RIO' was chosen as the name and symbol of the project and translated in more than 50 languages, divulging internationally a message of love and pride for Rio de Janeiro. As a one-of-a-kind project, I LOVE RIO is designed to show the City and the State of Rio de Janeiro from unique historical, touristic and cultural perspectives. The portal offers innovative interpretations, beyond the traditionally available on-line information for visitors and users. The multi-level content was conceived to give a quick touristic reference, and to show how each characteristic of Rio de Janeiro developed, providing an explanation of how various parts of Rio de Janeiro affect the residents' lives, traditions, artistic and cultural productions. The I LOVE RIO portal garnered the institutional endorsement of over 40 Brazilian entities at the Municipal, State and Federal levels, making of the portal an institutionally-backed, but independent platform with an extraordinary global reach. On July 26th 2016, the portal was officially launched and presented to the world via an unforgettable and unprecedented ceremony when the I LOVE RIO symbol was projected on the iconic monument of Christ the Redeemer, formally adding the portal to the cultural landscape of Rio de Janeiro. This book offers a glimpse in some of the most important aspects of Rio de Janeiro, an overall introduction to one of the most fascinating and complex cities in the world. The book contains QR-codes, providing direct links to the latest on-line content for any given topic.