Reviews
"A reader interested in learning about Candomble would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is agood read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions, "A reader interested in learning about Candombl would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomble would be hard-pressed tofind a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and tothe intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is anambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot.There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in thefield."--History of Religions, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions"Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology"A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions"Highly recommended"--American Journal of Sociology"In this elegantly written and theoretically sophisticated book, Paul Johnson has made an important contribution to the scholarly discussion not only of Candomblé, but of the relationship between religion and Brazilian society-and, indeed, between religion and society in general." --John Burdick, Author of Blessed Anastacia: Women, Race, and Popular Christianity in Brazil"Johnson has achieved a masterful synthesis of fieldwork and theory, replacing the misleading notion of syncretism and its reified dualisms with the historically nuanced concept of 'secretism.' His book represents a breakthrough in studies of Brazilian Candomblé because it relates local worlds and ritual networks to the rise of nationalism and the bourgeois public sphere." --Andrew Apter, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblwould be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions"Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "Johnson has achieved a masterful synthesis of fieldwork and theory, replacing the misleading notion of syncretism and its reified dualisms with the historically nuanced concept of 'secretism.' His book represents a breakthrough in studies of Brazilian Candomble because it relates localworlds and ritual networks to the rise of nationalism and the bourgeois public sphere." --Andrew Apter, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Chicago, "A reader interested in learning about Candombl´e would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions"Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candombl would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it....Secrets, Gossip and Godsis an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"--American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."-- History of Religions "Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."-- History of Religions"Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "Johnson has achieved a masterful synthesis of fieldwork and theory,replacing the misleading notion of syncretism and its reified dualisms with thehistorically nuanced concept of 'secretism.' His book represents abreakthrough in studies of Brazilian Candomble because it relates local worldsand ritual networks to the rise of nationalism and the bourgeois public sphere."--Andrew Apter, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University ofChicago, Johnson rightly observes that the contemporary meaning and experience of Candomble must come to terms with the widening of the religion from a regional base into a national (and international) status. Significant numbers of non-Afro Brazilian participants are joining and leading terreiro communities and influencing the interpretation and experience of the religion in important ways. Once secret signs and symbols are rapidly moving into the general culture discourse of theBrazilian public sphere, Johnson's book successfully urges us toward this acknowledgement., "In this elegantly written and theoretically sophisticated book, Paul Johnson has made an important contribution to the scholarly discussion not only of Candomble, but of the relationship between religion and Brazilian society-and, indeed, between religion and society in general." --JohnBurdick, Author of Blessed Anastacia: Women, Race, and Popular Christianity in Brazil, "A reader interested in learning about Candomble would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candombl'e would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions"Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it....Secrets, Gossip and Godsis an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"--American Journal of Sociology, "A reader interested in learning about Candomblé would be hard-pressed to find a more comprehensive yet deftly written introduction to the religion and to the intellectual debates that surround it.... Secrets, Gossip and Gods is an ambitious, rich book that succeeds on many levels; it is a good read, to boot. There is little doubt that it will become a point of reference in the field."--History of Religions "Highly recommended"-- American Journal of Sociology, "In this elegantly written and theoretically sophisticated book, PaulJohnson has made an important contribution to the scholarly discussion not onlyof Candomble, but of the relationship between religion and Braziliansociety-and, indeed, between religion and society in general." --John Burdick,Author of Blessed Anastacia: Women, Race, and Popular Christianity inBrazil
