River of Tears

“River of Tears is a brilliant exploration of a vital aspect of recent Brazilian culture that has received little scholarly attention. Each page brings new insights marshaled in the service of a pioneering argument. All subsequent scholars of recent Brazilian culture will need to reckon with it.” - Bryan McCann, author of Hello, Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil

“River of Tears is a wonderful book. Alexander Sebastian Dent has a first-rate ability to move fluidly between various critical theoretical accounts of popular music’s meaning, the political economy of its production, and richly evoked ethnography. His thinking is sophisticated, his writing is superb, and his ethnographic voice is rich, clear, vivid, and exceptionally humane.” - Aaron A. Fox, author of Real Country: Music and Language in Working-Class Culture

“River of Tears is essential reading for ethnomusicologists, social scientists, and all those who think they know Brazil. It is a wonderful, passionate, and sophisticated study of música sertaneja, a genre immensely popular within the country but little known outside of it. By examining the development of this music and the reasons for its popularity, Alexander Sebastian Dent reveals the profound significance of música sertaneja for an understanding of both rural and urban Brazil.” - Anthony Seeger, author of Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People

“[F]or scholars of popular music, or Brazil, or Latin American public culture, it offers a trove of insights and evidence. And for any scholar interested in how popular culture can and should be studied, River of Tears is an impressive example of the power and delights of theoretically informed ethnography.”
- Joli Jensen, The Latin Americanist

“Dent’s extended theoretical arguments rest on a solid ethnographic foundation. In clear, well-structured prose, River of Tears makes a significant contribution to scholarly conversations on Brazilian rural music, rural performativity, and expressive culture in the context of neoliberalism.” - John Murphy, A Contracorriente

“[T]his well-written interpretation of the kinship relation between country musicians will be a valuable resource for those interested in Brazilian music and culture. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.” - K. W. Mukuna, Choice

“[An] insightful analysis of caipira public culture.” - Jack A. Draper III, The Americas

“River of Tears is a fluently written and entertaining book that will repay several rereadings. The anecdotes that Dent provides to underline his arguments are engaging and aptly chosen. . . . This a study of immense value for anyone interested in Brazilian studies in general and not only those concerned with Brazilian popular music and culture. I would suggest that even if you are familiar with Brazilian country music you may never view it in the same light again after reading this book.”
- Sean Stroud, Bulletin of Latin American Research

“This is the most comprehensive ethnography about country music in Brazil. . . . [A]n essential read for scholars in the field.” - Vânia Castro, Journal of Folklore Research

“…[T]his book is an excellent example of dismantling potential paradoxes in cultural studies…Dent’s research strength lies precisely on the fact that he discusses the commercial circulation of music, but never loses sight of the human subject, and concentrates his efforts on the grass-roots, folk counterpart of Brazilian country music.”  - Alessandra Santos, Luso-Brazilian Review