Acknowledgments

A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE IS CONVINCED THAT WHENEVER I NEED something, someone always seems to magically appear and provide me with a piece of information or an offering that would help me out. When it came to the writing of this book, I have to agree with her. Many people magically appeared to make this possible. First and foremost my friend and colleague Maria Clara Pinhiero (the origin of the statement just noted), who from the moment I described the book project has done just about everything possible to make sure I finished it, including conducting the interviews for Chapter Seven in Portuguese and translating them into English. And my other friends and colleagues Iman Bibars, Chimney Chetty, and Ewa Konzcal, who nudged me along when I ne....