NONFICTION - May 22, 1994

IN THE CITIES AND JUNGLES OF BRAZIL by Paul Rambali (Henry Holt: $23; 266 pp.). “The smell of Brazil,” writes journalist Paul Rambali, “is composed of sugar molecules--the hot, sweet, smell of baking sugar that wafts from the padarias , the bakeries and coffee shops; and the smell of Gasohol, the potent mix of sugar-derived alcohol and gasoline that powers many of the cars.” That sentence nicely captures the tone of this travel book: lyrical and unexpected, intent on highlighting the color and contradictions of Brazil. You could fill a long shelf with travel books about South America’s largest country, but Rambali’s is exceptional because it approaches Brazil sideways, not through touristic stereotypes. Although he writes about carnaval and the rain forest, and meets with hyper, blond children’s TV star Xuxa, he first went to Brazil to pursue a much less familiar story--that of escaped mobster Escadinha, the Robin Hood of Rio de Janeiro’s slums ( favelas ), which stand cheek-by-jowl with the city’s chic high-rises. Rambali, author of “French Blues: A Journey in Modern France,” doesn’t judge Escadinha nor any other Brazilian, content to describe their charged and difficult lives: the street children who can be killed, if bothersome, for $70 (the star of the film “Pixote,” which made the children famous in 1981, was shot to death by police six years later); the new religious leaders, who have turned their brand of exploitative, miracle-based Christianity into a lucrative business; the Beijoquero , or the Serial Kisser, able to plant a fat one on every visiting celebrity (including the Pope, on his foot) except George Bush. The best parts of the book, however, deal with Brazilian television, especially the making of its ubiquitous telenovelos , or soap operas. The broadcasts are appalling--but entrancing, too, as befits a country that seems truly dedicated to sensory overload.