Maíra - Darcy Ribeiro

‘Darcy Ribeiro, a renowned anthropologist, an authority on South American Indian culture, an expert on the effects of Brazilian contact with Indians and currently the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro, is uniquely qualified to write this complex novel … a magnificent portrayal of Brazilian Indian culture and an arresting story of the violent contact between frontier expansionism and the Indian’s striking but vulnerable society. Behind the façade of a mystery story, he has written a novel about a continuing holocaust that concerns not only the past but events that are occurring at the moment.?

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

‘A mystery novel? An anthropological novel? A novel about the collision of two cultures? About the threat of annihilation faced by the Indians? Or about the devastation of the Amazon region? MAIRA is all of these, defying simple classification. The knowledge of the anthropologist suffuses the narration without leaving any trace of scientific method. In sum the often poetic description of the Mairun mythology reveals Darcy Ribeiro as a writer of the very first rank?

KOLNER-STAAT ANZEIGER

It is impossible to summarize MAÍRA. It is not a book about the Indians. It is a book whose voice is that of the Indians. Anthropologist, renowned specialist on the Indian tribes of the Amazon, Darcy Ribeiro simply resonates with the accents of another culture… magical narrative, superb and enthralling?’

LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR

‘MAÍRA is a true ethnological novel, full of intrigue and counterpoint, an artful and welcome fiction. Polyphonic.’

LE MONDE

*A narrative style capable of rousing the reader from the tedium of most contemporary literature, an intense participation in the concerns of his characters and in the history of the Indian people, these are the qualities of Darcy Ribeiro, a writer endowed with extraordinary resources.’ CAIO

‘MAÍRA offers not only a compelling picture of an Indian tribe’s way of life, but also a fascinating allegory of Christianity, capitalism and the contradictions of cultural pluralism?

NEWSWEEK