Favela four decades of living on the edge in rio de janeiro is a book by janice perlman published by oxford university press in 2010 it primarily documents the experiences and history relayed through conversation by locals to perlman during her time living in the informal settlements surrounding rio de janeiro the author also provides her own interpretation of social relations within these communities and discusses the manner in which residents have shaped their collective destinies . Favela four decades of living on the edge in rio de janeiro after visiting rio de janeiro and other brazilian cities i had many questions about who lived in the favelas and why janice perlmans study of favelas over several decades answered many of my questions although this text is a study of the peoples of favelas it also contains many . In favela four decades of living on the edge in rio de janeiro janice perl man shares with us her experiences insights and the results of her research into the madness passion paradise and hell experienced by rios favela dwellers th is is a keenly insightful and eminently readable book that continues the. Janice perlman wrote the first in depth account of life in the favelas a book hailed as one of the most important works in global urban studies in the last 30 years now in favela perlman carries that story forward to the present re interviewing many longtime favela residents whom she had first met in 1969 as well as their children and grandchildren perlman offers the only long term . Favela is a sociological triumph the distillation of decades of experience in favela of rio de janeiro and an important book for anybody interested in urban living state power and the future of humanity