A Piper in Brazil

The book recounts adventures: some on a tropical Brazilian island and some in merry sessions with the Irish uilleann pipes in and around Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Women-Brazilian and foreign-are ubiquitous. The style is a light-hearted pastiche of academic writing, though some of the adventures (and misadventures) are quite alarming. Many interesting insights into Brazil appear-some inspired from Jean De Léry's fascinating 16th-century account, Histoire d'Un Voyage Faict en Terre du Brésil.The text is illustrated throughout with the titles and opening bars of traditional tunes. There is a wealth of poetry and fun in these titles. This is a unique feature: the esoteric collection of tunes alone makes it a reference for all musicians with a sense of humour.It is also unusual in the degree to which other languages figure. The book is about real people in the real world and Portuguese, Spanish, French, Gaelic, and Latin (!) all figure in addition to English, with translations where necessary.