Bossa Nova: The Story of the Brazilian Music That Seduced the World

Ruy Castro

Apr 2012 · Chicago Review Press

About this ebook

Bossa nova is one of the most popular musical genres in the world. Songs such as “The Girl from Ipanema” (the fifth most frequently played song in the world), “The Waters of March,” and “Desafinado” are known around the world. Bossa Nova—a number-one bestseller when originally published in Brazil as Chega de Saudade—is a definitive history of this seductive music. Based on extensive interviews with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Jo+o Gilberto, and all the major musicians and their friends, Bossa Nova explains how a handful of Rio de Janeiro teenagers changed the face of popular culture around the world. Now, in this outstanding translation, the full flavor of Ruy Castro’s wisecracking, chatty Portuguese comes through in a feast of detail. Along the way he introduces a cast of unforgettable characters who turned Gilberto’s singular vision into the sound of a generation.

About the author

Ruy Castro grew up in Rio to the sound of bossa nova. He has been a staff writer, reporter, and editor for more than half a dozen major Brazilian magazines and newspapers. He lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Julian Dibbell is a writer and journalist. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.