Brazilian Adventure (Marlboro Travel)

Amazon.com

While novelist Ian Fleming is best known for bringing adventurer James Bond to life, his writer brother Peter Fleming, a reporter for The Times of London, survived South American misadventures so challenging they make 007's high-risk existence seem placid in comparison. Lured by a mysterious newspaper ad, Fleming sails with an expedition to Brazil in the 1930s, attempting to answer unresolved questions about a team of explorers, headed by a British Colonel Fawcett, that disappeared in 1925. Once arrived in Brazil, Fleming's expedition falls apart, being equipped with few provisions, erroneous maps, and a despotic leader who proves to be less than fearless in the Amazon jungles. The team soon splits, with former colleagues battling the elements and competing with each other in a race for time and a search for truth. A finely crafted travel tale, with prose that's sometimes as dense and colorful as the jungles it's set in, Brazilian Adventure manages to turn the harrowing into cheeky commentary and barely contained comedy. --Melissa Rossi

Book Description

"Beyond the completion of a 3,000-mile journey, mostly under amusing conditions, through a little-known part of the world, and the discovery of one new tributary to a tributary to a tributary of the Amazon, nothing of importance was achieved."

Nothing indeed. In 1932, Peter Fleming, a literary editor (and the brother of Ian Fleming), traded his pen for a pistol to engage in the celebrated search for English adventurer Colonel P. H. Fawcett, who had gone missing in the jungles of central Brazil. With meager supplies, faulty maps, and a pack of rival newspapermen on their trail, Fleming and his companions marched, canoed, and fought through 3,000 miles of savage wilderness and alligator-ridden rivers in search of the fate of the lost colonel. One of the great adventure stories (one might even call it a ripping tale) "Brazilian Adventure" is as fresh a story today as it was when originally published in 1933.

Customer Reviews:

Quite charming.......2007-06-09

This is certainly not an adventure book in the classical sense. The style of writing does not allow for it. Buy it for its British humor and charm, not for adventures which don't take place.

Somewhat entertaining.......2005-05-21

I bought this book because I am fascinated by South America, the Amazon River, etc..and also because this looked like a real life adventure book searching for clues into the dissappearance of Major Fawcett.

This book starts out slow because of the british style of writing in the early 20th century. For me it was too "flowery" and maybe that is not the right word. I nearly stopped reading the book because of it, but I didn't. Thankfully, the last half of the book, describing the race back to civilization, was much better.

This book is okay, but nowhere near great

British subtlety.......2005-01-19

I brought this book for my Brazilian trip this past Dec. I found this book slow and boring in the beginning. This may be due to the fact that the author used lot of what I assume to be late 19th and early 20th century references which I have no idea about and the British writing. But after half way through, I learned to read past the subtle British writing and concentrate on the story and this make the book more enjoyable.

Engaging, witty and a must read!.......2000-12-15

Every so often I have to buy a new copy of Brazillian Adventure because I lend my copy to someone and they flatly refuse to return it again. This is one of the most engaging and good-humoured travel books ever. It was Fleming's first adventure and his first book - yet it became a classic work going into several editions early on and being used in schools as a study piece. It is seriously well written, and seriously engaging.

It starts with his blandly describing how he got involved in the expedition in the first place- answering an advertisement in the paper to go on a 'Fawcett hunt" (as he later called it). He thought he would go on a grand expedition to find the missing explorer Colonel Fawcett and get a little hunting done at the same time. There have been numerous books and studies done on the disappearnce of Fawcett in Brazil in the 1920's - to this day no one quite knows what happened to him, and as it turns out the expedition that Fleming was joining was not going to throw new light on matters either.

In fact the trip deteriorated badly the moment they hit Brazil, and Fleming's dry wit turns it all into a hilarious read - although it must have been desparately uncomfortable for them all. The expedition Leader was incompetent, the expedition split into two warring factions and they all ended up in a race back down the Amazon to try to get the banks in time.

Peter Fleming, in case you didn't know, is the brother of the 'James Bond' author Ian Fleming - a talent for writing seemed to run in the family. Peter continued his travels and writing career but I think this first book is the best of them all. There is also a wonderful biography on his life available but I think that is now out of print.

Good Old Fashion Adventure Still Works.......2000-07-06

This is contemporary American adventure: buy an SUV, watch game shows based on Lord of the Flies, try the risotto recipe Martha Stewart used on her ascent in the Himilayas. Please! Brazilian Adventure is the real thing for those who don't own their own snowshoes. Sure, the author and his companions set off with pith helmets worthy of Ralph Lauren and more elaborate gear than they'll ever use; true, Fleming is something of a good old boy circa 1932 Oxford style. Skin to be shed. When reality hits, which it does early in the adventure and continues to the bedraggled end, he rises to the occasion. The narrative is suffused with clear-eyed wit, honesty and optimism. I hope there are other Peter Fleming books out there.

Average customer rating:

Remarkable Adventure
Great Writing, Great Adventure
Teddy Roosevelt's Last Great Adventure
An excellent narration of T.R.'s sometimes perilous journey

Through the Brazilian Wilderness
Theodore Roosevelt
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1417924586

Book Description

1925. This volume contains Roosevelt's account of a zoogeographic reconnaissance through the Brazilian hinterland. The official and proper title of the expedition is: Expedicao Scientifica Roosevelt-Rondon. Contents: The Start; Up the Paraguay; A Jaguar-Hunt on the Taquary; The Headwaters of the Paraguay; Up the River of Tapirs; Through the Highland Wilderness of Western Brazil; With a Mule-Train Across Nhambiquara Land; The River of Doubt; Down an Unknown River into the Equatorial Forest; and To the Amazon and Home; Zoological and Geographical Results of the Expedition. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Download Description

Cherrie and Miller had secured a little owl a month before in the Chaco, and it was travelling with them in a basket. It was a dear little bird, very tame and affectionate. It liked to be handled and petted; and when Miller, its especial protector, came into the cabin, it would make queer little noises as a signal that it wished to be taken up and perched on his hand. Cherrie and Miller had trapped many mammals. Among them was a tayra weasel, whitish above and black below, as big and blood-thirsty as a fisher-martin; and a tiny opossum no bigger than a mouse.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable Adventure.......2003-06-02

Theodore Roosevelt was a man's man. A New York kid whose taste for adventure was sparked in his boyhood by a dead seal for sale on a Broadway sidewalk. Harvard student, soldier, Rough Rider, youngest President ever and one who survived the assassin's bullet, maverick politician, Nobel Prize winner, hunter and conservationist, and finally the man who, at 55 years old, explored an unknown region of the Amazon river basin. Imagine one of today's former-Presidents undertaking a similar adventure. For six weeks, in 1914, Roosevelt and his party paddled and carried their canoes down a previously unexplored 950-mile river now called the Rio Roosevelt. Men died, boats were lost, food became scarce, dangerous animals and natives were about, fever borne by insects sickened many in the party (and led to Roosevelt's own death five years later). This is the stuff of "Through the Brazilian Wilderness".

Roosevelt's other works, including "The Rough Riders", are better known, and this one is not great literature. Instead, it is a remarkable adventure story by an interesting man. The book is essentially Roosevelt's trip diary, colored by his great enthusiasm for adventure and the natural world. Even before reaching the Amazon, Roosevelt stops at a Brazilian snake research lab that so captures his attention that he writes seventeen pages about it. At all times, he makes careful note of the wildlife he encounters, not quite with the depth of a professional scientist, but with the trained eye of a dedicated and experienced hobbyist. He squeezes in some amusing stories about piranha fish that he heard --and apparently believed. Naturalists of the day killed animals in the name of science, which places in context Roosevelt's joy in hunting and his comments: first on alligators ("They are often dangerous and are always destructive to fish, and it is good to shoot them") and later on conservation ("There is every reason why the good people of South America should waken... to the duty of preserving from extinction the wildlife which is an asset of such interest."). The book is most poetic in its description of animal life, and particularly in registering surprise that the myriad insects are far more pernicious than any of the better-known dangers such as alligators, big cats, or piranhas.

The book's is not perfect, and Roosevelt is not a great author in a literary sense, rather making up in enthusiasm what he lacks in prose and penetrating insight. There is no attempt at political analysis, he simply praises Brazilians as good hosts who have started down the road to democracy. He sees the land he travels through as like the United States of perhaps a hundred years earlier, so there are frequent predictions that a promising location is ripe for development. The limited foray into politics is to praise Positivism, the ideology of the Brazilian military class that emphasized modernity and structure, and that not incidentally justified the many instances of military intervention in Brazilian politics over the years. Finally, the one annoyance is the recurring theme (perhaps a dozen times in all) of the true danger of the journey. Over and over we read that the river has never been charted, that it is truly dangerous, that the explorers are not your armchair-adventurer variety, and that such voyages will necessarily be easier for those who follow in the future. We get that.

Roosevelt was an interesting man, his enthusiasm and taste for adventure are infectious. The book is not a literary triumph, but it is a fun read and an excellent journey through the Amazon

Great Writing, Great Adventure.......2002-11-02

TR's account of his expedition to explore the River of Doubt shows a lot of the reasons we still admire him. First, he was a serious scientist. He was dedicated to discovering new species of wildlife (and could rattle off their Latin names with the best of them), mapping unknown stretches of river, and observing the ways of foreign lands. We know TR as a physical character and often forget what a highly intelligent man he was.

Second, his writing is greatly under-appreciated. He doesn't breeze over his descriptions of wildlife or the landscape--it's pretty technical stuff--but he does it clearly and concisely. As someone who has labored through countless pedantic textbooks, I took comfort in his words, "Ability to write well, if the writer had nothing to write about, entitles him to mere derision. But the greatest thought is robbed of an immense proportion of its value if expressed in a mean or obscure manner."

Third, despite the above, he could still endure enormous physical hardship at an old age. Battling rapids, hauling canoes, fighting disease, and hunting game, TR had the combination of brawn and intelligence that's seriously lacking in our leaders today, especially the lightweight that now sits behind TR's desk.

This book is also a great window into a time and place forever lost to history. TR's writing projects a clear photo in your mind of undiscovered wilderness and great adventure.

Teddy Roosevelt's Last Great Adventure.......2002-03-30

As those familiar with his history know, Theodore Roosevelt was truly a unique, gifted and accomplished person. He was naturalist, historian, big game hunter, politician, statesman, conservationist and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize rolled into one. If he had followed the interests and predilictions of his youth, he would have grown up to be a naturalist rather than President of the United States. As a boy he had a vast collection of frogs, squirrels, snakes, birds, insects that he called the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.

Science's loss was politics gain. However, T.R. never lost his interest in nature. Following his presidency, he set out on an expedition to explore and map unknown regions of Paraguay and Brazil on the 950-mile River of Doubt, a previously unexplored tributary of the Amazon River. The scientific endeavor became an ordeal to test the expedition's courage and stamina as it faced overpowering heat, dangerous rapids, wild animals, devouring ants, endless insects, fever, dysentery and more. The expedition collected thousands of species of birds and mammals, but Roosevelt would die a few years after completing the expedition. Roosevelt admired those who lived life with passion and for what he called "the Great Adventure." This story chronicles one of T.R.'s last great adventures in his typical inimitable style.

An excellent narration of T.R.'s sometimes perilous journey.......1998-01-11

T.R. was writing was very gradiloquent, and this book really gives readers a good example of this. Read about the journey that ended with T.R. having a river named after him (Rio Duvida renamed to the current Rio Roosevelt), and gave him the sickness that would eventually lead to his death less than five years later.

Eat Smart in Brazil : How to Decipher the Menu Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart Series, No. 1) (Eat Smart, No 1)

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Makes me hungry for Brazilian foods!
Five Stars from BrazilMax
Best Book I Took to Brazil
What?
Delicious!

Eat Smart in Brazil : How to Decipher the Menu Know the Market Foods & Embark on a Tasting Adventure (Eat Smart Series, No. 1) (Eat Smart, No 1)
Joan Peterson , and David Peterson
Manufacturer: Ginkgo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0964116839

Amazon.com

Brazil is a complex country of Indian, Portuguese, and African descent that mixes its heritage in amazing culinary concoctions, but you need savvy to partake as fully and gloriously as you might like. From abacaxi (pineapple) and abobrinha (squash) to national favorites like farofa de banana (bananas fried with onion rings and manioc meal) and patinho de carangueijo ao vinagrete (marinated crab claws), you'll not want for good food. Joan and David Peterson do more than let you know what's out there, they give you the vocabulary to ask for it, and even include some recipes to recreate at home.

Book Description

The compact, portable, and very readable EAT SMART guides to world cuisinethe first of their kindhelp travelers experience the delicious culinary delights of a foreign destination. This popular series contains fascinating food history, insight on regional specialties, great recipes to preview the tastes of the country, useful phrases, handy shopping tips, and two extensive bilingual dictionaries to simplify navigating menu and market. Travelers can now easily determine whats on the menu, whats in the market, whats on their plate, and what they can ask for as they travel.

Customer Reviews:

Makes me hungry for Brazilian foods!.......2007-05-01

EAT SMART IN BRAZIL

Reviewed by Sharon Hudgins, author of The Other Side of Russia: A Slice of Life in Siberia and the Russian Far East

Reading "Eat Smart in Brazil" made my mouth water! I'm a big fan of the "Eat Smart" travel guides for food lovers--and I'm always delighted when another book in this series is published. This second edition of Joan Peterson's "Eat Smart in Brazil" certainly lives up to the series' theme, promising to tell you "How to Decipher the Menu, Know the Market Foods, & Embark on a Tasting Adventure." And what an adventure this is! After an explanation of the historical, geographical, and ethnic influences on Brazilian foods and a description of five different regional cuisines within that huge country, the author then satisfies your desire to eat by providing nearly two dozen recipes for Brazilian dishes from appetizers to breads to desserts.

You'll also want to carry this book with you on your next trip to Brazil, because it contains a comprehensive glossary of food terms and cooking techniques in Portuguese (the language of Brazil), translated into English, as well as an extensive Menu Guide for translating terms that you'll find on menus and cafe chalkboards throughout Brazil. One of my favorite features of the Menu Guide is the author's marginal comments on many of the dishes listed: National Favorite, Regional Classic, Spectacular, Interesting, A Feast, Not to Be Missed, Excellent, Try Them All. Just reading these menu terms makes you want to book the next flight to Rio de Janeiro! Highly recommended!

Five Stars from BrazilMax.......2004-04-21

I'd like to see more of this kind of book. Written by experts in a readable style, "Eat Smart in Brazil" provides a succinct but informative overview of the country's culinary culture. It includes historical, ethnic and regional overviews, recipes, shopping tips (both for local markets and for when back home), a culinary phrase guide, and two Portuguese-to-English glossaries - one to help when ordering in restaurants and the other to clarify definitions of food names and cooking terminology. The Eat Smart series is published independently, under the Ginkgo Press imprint. Joan and David Peterson are literally eating their way around the world with Ginkgo. Besides Brazil, they've covered Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Morocco, and India. Next up, Peru. Unlike the run-of-the-mill globetrotting guidebook writer, this couple knows its stuff - which, of course, would be food. (Bill Hinchberger is the editor of the BrazilMax website.)

Best Book I Took to Brazil.......2003-02-26

Just got back from the trip of a lifetime to Brazil. We visited our former exchange student and his family. We used this book to find out what we were eating (wonderful food!) at every resturant. Even though we were with native Brazilians who spoke English, they often did not know the English words for food.
We used it in Campinas, Paraty, Rio, and Santa Rita (MG). Near the end of our trip we went through the book and marked which foods were our favorites. I recommend this book to anyone taking their first trip to Brazil

What?.......2001-10-09

Brazil IS NOT made of Indian, Portuguese and African people descent. Brazil was colonized by Portuguese, African, French, Italian, German, and Duth people. Other people that were very expressive in Brazilian history were Chinese, Jewish, Arabic, Spanish..I'm sorry if I'm leaving some nations out of this equation (Brazilian people are a union of many people and cultures!!), but I've never read something SO absurd as this review.
Thanks

Delicious!.......2000-05-26

From the authors of Eat Smart in Mexico, comes this new title, an easy-to-use menu guide for travelers to Brazil. It contains useful phrases in Portuguese when ordering and a collection of recipes for chefs who want to cook Brazilian fare at home.

Amazon Up Close: The Passionate Adventurer's Guide to the Brazilian Amazon & the Pantanal (Adventure Guide)

Average customer rating:

Amazing read!
the best of what is around, but be careful
Excellent!

Amazon Up Close: The Passionate Adventurer's Guide to the Brazilian Amazon & the Pantanal (Adventure Guide)
Pamela Bloom
Manufacturer: NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1556507801

Customer Reviews:

Amazing read!.......1999-12-26

Few books have ever excited me as much as this one. My copy has a sticker that says it won Best Guidebook of the Year and this book deserves it. The author has obviously traveled herself through the Amazon and she gives a lot of "up close" tips. But what makes the book so special are also the articles written by other people--scientists and shamans who work with tribal people. The chapter by Dr. Meyer who had a shamanisticc experience with an Indian tribe and fire ants is just incredible! I wasn't even planning to go to the Amazon when I visited Brazil but somehow this book ended up in my hands and changed my life. Whether you are going to the Amazon or just want to read about it,get this book. I loved it!

the best of what is around, but be careful.......1999-01-15

Not many books are available about Amazonia,and indeed this is a very useful one when trying to find information on excursions, guides, food, health... but some remarks on the cities and their inhabitants are quite superficial. The way people live in cities such as Manaus or Belém should make us think of more than what colorful the marketplaces are, if we intend to understand a bit of what's happening in the Amazon, and in Latin America. The inclusion of detailed maps of the cities and some budget hotels could greatly improve this book.

Excellent!.......1997-10-05

Excellent! Absolutely indispensable for the Amazon traveler - not only is it packed with useful info, but Bloom clearly understands the local cultures in a way that few travel writers do. Highly recommended-

The Naturalist on the River Amazons: Record Adventures Habits Animals Sketches Brazilian Indian Life Aspects (Nature Library, Penguin)

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Henry Bates
A Vanishing World

The Naturalist on the River Amazons: Record Adventures Habits Animals Sketches Brazilian Indian Life Aspects (Nature Library, Penguin)
Henry Walter Bates
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140170111

Customer Reviews:

Henry Bates.......2006-12-08

Fascinating reading and well worth the purchase if you're interested in the area or thinking of going. Don't try reading it all at once, it's good for dipping in and out. Nice escape.

A Vanishing World.......2006-11-29

Climbing palms. Seven-inch monkeys. Twenty-foot anacondas. Bats with two-foot wingspans. Five-inch spiders. Bloodthirsty insects. Methods of river travel. Torrential downpours. Indigenous peoples.

Henry Walter Bates' personal narrative of exploring and naturalizing in the Amazon Basin is both an enjoyable read and one of immense importance to natural history.
From 1848-1859 Bates traveled throughout the Amazon and its many tributaries taking notes on everything from the natural world to the cultures and customs of the many native and non-native peoples he encountered.
His observations of animal mimicry (now known as Batesian Mimicry) further glued Darwin's theory of evolution, natural selection and adaptation.

The reader is easily lured into Bates' descriptive writing style. Energetic, expressive and vigilant, we are right there alongside him traveling through the murky dark waters of the upper Amazon or up close with a scrutinizing eye to observe the ants, monkeys and butterflies. He was a keen and enthusiastic witness to a world slowly disappearing.

The only shortcoming to the book is that it is extremely lengthy. Maps and diagrams would have been helpful.

Bella's Brazilian Football (Bella Balistica series)

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Bella's Brazilian Football (Bella Balistica series)
Adam Guillain
Manufacturer: Milet Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1840594888

Book Description

In this energetic adventure, feisty heroine Bella Balistica embarks on a quest to discover why Brazil excels at European-style football. Bella is crazy about the sport, but yens for a decent ball and instruction from the pros. By harnessing the power of her mystical pendant, Bella flies to Brazil with her pal, a Quetzal bird, where she befriends a homeless child named Ronaldo who reveals the unexpected key to victory on the field.

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BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE
PETER FLEMING
Manufacturer: JONATHAN CAPE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SA115A

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BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE
P. FLEMING
Manufacturer: CAPE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000SCBYK0

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BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE
FLEMING
Manufacturer: PENGUIN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S63ROM

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BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE
PETER FLEMING
Manufacturer: CAPE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S2KX7U

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