City of God

A Novel

By: Paolo Lins

Narrated by: Paul Christy

The searing novel on which the internationally acclaimed hit film was based, City of God is a gritty, gorgeous tour de force from one of Brazil's most notorious slums.

Cidade de Deus: a place where the streets are awash with narcotics, where violence can erupt at any moment over drugs, money, and love - but also a place where the samba beat rocks till dawn, where the women are the most beautiful on earth, and where one young man wants to escape his background and become a photographer. When City of God erupted on screens worldwide, it became one of the most critically and commercially successful foreign films of recent years. But few were aware of the story behind the film. Written by Paulo Lins, who grew up in the favela (shantytown) Cidade de Deus in Rio e Janeiro and who spent years researching its gang history, City of God began life as a coruscating, harrowing novelistic account of 20 years in the illicit pursuits of the youth gangs born from the favela.

Now available in English for the first time, City of God is a raw, powerful portrait of the countless millions of poor people all over the world.

©1997, 2002 Paulo Lins. Translation copyright 2006 by Alison Entrekin. Recorded by arrangement with Grove Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

For once, the movie was better

Brutal, fractured, interesting look at life in City of God. Blood Meridian type of violence without the exquisite writing. Glad I read it to get a glimpse at a world I will never know, but I won't read it again.

Unexpected

This book was very good in a surprising way. I expected the book to be similar to the movie, but the movie strays from the source material in many ways.

I REALLY ENJOYED THE BOOK

I loved the book it had a lot more detail then the movie had...it was my second time reading this book and I just order my own copy..and when it come im gonna read it again..