São Paulo – The national capital of shopping and of (great) cuisine, São Paulo is also the Brazilian city that harbours the largest number of attractions to book lovers. A literary metropolis with myriad good bookstores and cultural facilities that are worth a visit, such as the Museum of Portuguese Language, in the Centre, and Casa das Rosas (the House of Roses) –Haroldo de Campos Poetry and Literature Space, right on Paulista Avenue, in the Paraíso neighbourhood. Fill up your shopping bags with fiction and reality. And renew your repertoire, air your mind and recycle your ideas with texts and references from yesterday and today.
Starting with the best stores in the business, Livraria Cultura has four units in the largest Brazilian metropolis, located at Conjunto Nacional (on Paulista Avenue) and at shopping centres Villa-Lobos, Market Place and Bourbon. The headquarters, in the city’s most famous avenue, is dear to the more voracious readers. Aside from the collection of over 3 million titles and 170,000 CDs and DVDs, the highlights are the efficient and attentive service from most salespersons, usually familiar with the world of languages. In the facilities, one can wander for hours, through various sections, searching for new books and classics for their shelves. A break can be taken for a cappuccino at the in-store café. A great tour for locals and tourists alike.
Also on Paulista Avenue, the unit of Fnac, a French chain that owns 150 stores in nine different countries, features pricing as one of its strengths. Every launch arrives at the shelves bearing the so-called “green label,” which offers a 20% off discount, a bargain that remains valid for 30 days. The company has two other units in the city, one of them in the neighbourhood of Pinheiros (opened 12 years ago) and the other at Morumbi Shopping. It is important to note that aside from books, Fnac sells CDs, DVDs, audio, video, telephony and photography equipment and computers. Resist it if you can.
Another traditional paradise of consumption for readers of all profiles in São Paulo is Livraria Martins Fontes. Originally from the coastal city of Santos, the chain has two stores in the capital: one on Paulista and the other in the Vila Nova Conceição neighbourhood. With 800 square metres and a collection of 90,000-plus books, the store is great for those who wish to make their picks peacefully, calmly, silently, with the help of sales personnel that were trained to provide good services. Another tip: promotions area common there. Pay attention to the signs placed on the product tables.
Another member of the team of the city’s most beloved bookstores is Livraria da Vila. Active for 26 years, the company, which emerged in the Vila Madalena neighbourhood, now has five points of sale in São Paulo. The collection is good. And it surely extends beyond the bestsellers.
Party of languages
Bags filled with books yet? Then now it is time to get to know the most hyped up language-oriented spots in São Paulo. The first one is the Museum of Portuguese Language, in the Centre. Inaugurated in March 2006, it has been visited by over 2 million people, and is one of the country’s most visited.
The goal, here, is to pay tribute to the language that Brazilians inherited from Portugal, using technology and interaction. It is impossible not to spend a few minutes playing on the computers that inform the origins of words, for instance.
The museum is divided into three different storeys. The first one hosts temporary exhibitions. The second one features screenings of films showing the daily use of words in different areas of Brazil, and totems on the influences that Brazilian Portuguese has received, and a timeline of the history of language, among other services.
Heading for the third storey, do not leave the museum before watching, in the auditorium, the ten-minute film on the origins of language. Next, follow the other visitors and take a seat at “Praça da Língua” (the Language Square), a room in which image projections and audio create a literary anthology that will reach you through the voices of people such as the singers Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque and Maria Bethânia, to name a few. A must.
Leaving the Centre and heading once again to Paulista Avenue, which is definitely the most literary avenue in the book metropolis, a stop at Casa das Rosas – Haroldo de Campos Poetry and Literature Space, at number 37. What is it about? It is a cultural centre operating in one of the last villas still standing in the region. Note: the villa was designed by architect Ramos de Azevedo in 1928. The rose trees in the garden, which put colour to the bucolic garden amidst the hectic capital, justify the name (which means House of Roses).
Inaugurated in 2004, the facility houses the 20,000-strong book collection of poet Haroldo de Campos, deceased in 2003. Other highlights include bimonthly courses, exhibitions, lectures and events in which poetry is the most recurrent theme. The best way to wrap up your literary tour of the capital of good reading.
Service:
Livraria Cultura
www.livrariacultura.com.br
Fnac
www.fnac.com.br
Livraria Martins Fontes
www.martinsfontespaulista.com.br
Livraria da Vila
www.livrariadavila.com.br
Museum of Portuguese Language
Praça da Luz, Sem Número, São Paulo-SP
Telephone: (+55 11) 3326-0775
www.museudalinguaportuguesa.org.br
Casa das Rosas
Paulista Avenue, 37, Paraíso
Telephone: (+55 11) 3285-6986 and 3288-9447
http://www.casadasrosas-sp.org.br/
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
