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The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon

Dispatches from the Brazilian Rainforest
3.85 goodreads logo

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( 127 ratings, 15 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon by Fbio Zuker explores the intersection of nature and society in the Amazon through captivating storytelling and vivid descriptions. The author investigates how the unexpected arrival of marine life in the rainforest prompts reflections on environmental change, indigenous rights, and the intricate connections between human and ecological systems. It's a thought-provoking examination of environmental and cultural impact in one of the world's most diverse ecosystems.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you are fascinated by the unexpected journeys of wildlife and the mysteries of nature. It offers a unique exploration of the natural world, blending science and storytelling to reveal how a minke whale ended up in the Amazon. If you have a keen interest in environmental narratives and the interplay between humans and the natural environment, this book may captivate your curiosity.

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These essays share intimate stories of life and Indigenous resistance in the Amazon rainforest during an age of raging wildfires, mass migration, populist politics, and increasing deforestation.

  • Large galley quantities available for PGW sales force, Indie Next campaign, major media, and influencers
  • Major galley send to journalists who report on deforestation, wildfires, climate change, and the degradation of Indigenous lands
  • Major advertising campaign with American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) and National Geographic
  • Promotional partnership with SIBA with targeted advertising and promotions to Southern booksellers and readers
  • Digital marketing through the publisher to communities of more than 30K readers and buyers, including special pushes to academic and sales communities
  • Preorder campaign in partnership with Parnassus in Nashville (where translator Ezra Fitz lives)
  • Virtual touring with translator and author to bookstores in Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California
  • Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

    As the Amazon burns, Fbio Zuker shares stories of resistance, self-determination, and kinship with the land.

    In 2007, a seven-ton minke whale was found stranded on the banks of the Tapajs River, hundreds of miles into the Amazon rainforest. For days, environmentalists, journalists, and locals followed the lost whale, hoping to guide her back to the ocean, but ultimately proved unable to save her. Ten years later, journalist Fbio Zuker travels to the state of Par, to the town known as "the place where the whale appeared," which developers are now eyeing for mining, timber, and soybean cultivation.

    In these essays, Zuker shares intimate stories of life in the rainforest and its surrounding cities during an age of raging wildfires, mass migration, populist politics, and increasing deforestation. As a group of Venezuelan migrants wait at a bus station in Manaus, looking for a place more stable than home, an elder in Alter do ChΓ£o becomes the first Indigenous person in Brazil to die from COVID-19 after years of fighting for the rights and recognition of the Borari people.

    The subjects Zuker interviews are often torn between ties with their ancestral territories and the push for capitalist gain; The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon captures the friction between their worlds and the resilience of movements for autonomy, self-definition, and respect for the land that nourishes us.

    Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

    FΓ‘bio Zuker's The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon is highly acclaimed for its poignant essays, which blend rigorous journalism with lyrical storytelling. The book provides deep insights into the Amazon rainforest's environmental and social challenges, highlighting the resilience of Indigenous communities. Reviewers praise Zuker's ability to weave voices usually absent from mainstream narratives, offering indispensable perspectives on the region's cultural and ecological significance.

    Book Hero reading reviews

    Book Details

    INFORMATION

    ISBN: 9781571311818

    Publisher: Milkweed Editions

    Format: Paperback / softback

    Date Published: 21 July 2022

    Country: United States

    Imprint: Milkweed Editions

    Illustration: Illustrations

    Contributors:

    • Translated by Ezra E Fitz

    Audience: General / adult

    DIMENSIONS

    Width: 140.0mm

    Height: 216.0mm

    Weight: 250g

    Pages: 240

    About the Author

    Fbio Zuker is the author of The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon. A writer and journalist, he holds a master's degree from the School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences in Paris and is a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of So Paulo. He has also been three times a Pulitzer Center grantee. As a journalist he is a frequent contributor to Thomson Reuters Foundation and InfoAmazonia who has written for National Geographic, Revista Piau, Le Monde Diplomatique Brasil, Agencia Pblica, and Nexo Jornal, among others. He is also the author of On an Escape Route: Essays on Writing, Fear, and Violence (Hedra Editions, only available in Portuguese). In recent years he has focused his research on stories of the Amazon rainforest, looking to write 'nearby' the people whose land is being destroyed and their approaches to resistance.

    Ezra E. Fitz is the translator of The Life and Death of a Minke Whale in the Amazon. He has worked with Grammy-winning musician Juanes, Emmy-winning journalist Jorge Ramos, and the king of soccer himself, Pele. His translations of contemporary Latin American literature by Alberto Fuguet, Eloy Urroz, and others have been praised by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, and The Believer, among other publications. Fitz has been awarded grants from the Mexican National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA). He was a 2010 Resident at the Banff International Literary Translation Centre and a 2019 Peter Taylor Fellow with the Kenyon Review Literary Translation Workshop. He lives with his wife and children in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

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