Samba Dreamers

By Kathleen De Azevedo and Jen Beagin

Rosea spoke, her voice steady. "I was in jail a long time, you know. I'm paying for my sins. Now I live in a dingy apartment. I get to watch my neighbors' kids play and have a normal life that I'll never have. I smell their barbecues. I'm already in hell, believe me." Joe turned to go back to the car. "You don't know what hell is. You have no idea." When Jose Francisco Verguerio Silva arrives at LAX, fleeing the brutal dictatorship in his native Brazil, he is determined to become Americanized at all costs. He lands a job driving a Hollywood tour bus and posing as Ricky Ricardo. He marries a blonde waitress and becomes the father of twins. Yet happiness remains elusive for Joe as he is haunted by flashbacks of prison torture. And soon a torrid affair with Rosea Socorro Katz, the crazed daughter of Hollywood's Brazilian star Carmen Socorro, proves to be even more dangerous than the life he has fled. Rosea spent her childhood watching her mother unravel as the celebrity system toyed with and eventually destroyed her career. Carmen had always claimed to be descended from Amazons, the woman warriors of legend, but she was tamed by Hollywood. Not Rosea. She has just finished serving jail time for setting fire to the home of her ex-husband--in an attempt to destroy his collection of Brazilian artifacts--and sets out to salvage her life. Along the way, she manages to tear down the lives of everyone she meets. The Brazil of the imagination is shattered in this novel of two tortured souls wrestling with the myths of movies, politics, and the American Dream. Laced with fantastic tales of bird-boys and cannibal rituals, it spins a compelling story of desperation as it reminds us that American freedom and the myth of unbridled opportunity can also consume and destroy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0816524904
• ISBN13: 9780816524907
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: University of Arizona Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Refugee trades demons of Brazil for those of Hollywood

"Samba Dreamers" is a dark, fantastical and, indeed, brilliant cautionary tale for those who search out paradise without first confronting -- and defeating -- their inner demons. If Nathanael West had been Brazilian, "The Day of the Locust" would have looked a lot like "Samba Dreamers." De Azevedo is a remarkable new literary voice. [The full review first appeared in the El Paso Times.]

This Book Could Make a Great Movie!

Samba Dreamers is an amazing book, a sociological tour de force, and a fun read. Two young Brazilians in Hollywood are in the midst of a torrid illicit affair. They break all the rules including big time felony. He's a fugitive from Brazil's dictatorship of the 70's and she's the daughter of famed Brazilian movie star Carmen Socorro (read Carmen Miranda). Caught up, used and misused by the Hollywood power structure, they long for the sensuous rhythms and relaxed tropical warmth of Brazil. Ms. De Azevedo deftly balances a keen and adventurous insight into Hollywood with a sincere sympathy for her native Brazilian culture. This book is bound to become a great Hollywood exposé movie in the tradition of such classics as "Sunset Boulevard" and "Day of the Locust". For now it's a must read!