TRAVEL & GEOGRAPHY

Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics, and the Fight for Democracy

by Dave Zirin
Haymarket. 2014. 264p. ISBN 9781608463602. pap. $16; ebk. ISBN 9781608464333.
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Zirin, an experienced sports journalist (Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down), here spotlights the hypocrisy, greed, and societal impact of bringing world-class events to a country already struggling with poverty, crime, governance, and crippling environmental and health crises. One of his sources succinctly characterizes contemporary sports tourism mega-events (such as the Olympic Summer Games) as "upbeat shakedowns with appalling human costs." Hard-hitting and compelling, this exposé was named a "Best Sports Book of 2014" by the Boston Globe. (LJ 6/15/14)
Reviewed by Lee Arnold , Mar 01, 2016
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