Why read Favela?

Book cover of Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio de Janeiro

Book description

Janice Perlman wrote the first in-depth account of life in the favelas, a book hailed as one of the most important works in global urban studies in the last 30 years. Now, in Favela, Perlman carries that story forward to the present. Re-interviewing many longtime favela residents whom she had…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Favela as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Carl Abbott

Author

The improvised communities that ring the cities of Latin America have a bad reputation as squatter towns. Not so fast.

Look beyond the surface and you will see communities with strong social ties, systems of self-government, and residents who are as committed to their neighborhood as any American suburbanite. Janice Perlman has spent decades studying the Rio de Janeiro that lies behind its beaches, and gives a clear-eyed look at some of the self-built communities on the city’s edge.

From Carl's list on The best books about suburbs around the world.