Black Magic City

“Black Magic City is a fascinating and compellingly written study. It is a significant contribution to the study of scientific racism in Brazil that explores a body of evidence into ways racist precepts fueled the criminalization and prosecution of practices deemed to be witchcraft. Ana Paulina Lee makes a persuasive case that marginalized concepts can yield rich interpretive possibilities.” - Jerry Dávila, author of Diploma of Whiteness: Race and Social Policy in Brazil, 1917–1945

“Drawing on a variety of sources, Ana Paulina Lee’s ambitious and wide-ranging text weaves a richly detailed tapestry of Rio de Janeiro’s spiritual landscape. Black Magic City contains fascinating original research and innovative interdisciplinary research that illuminates stories of diverse individuals connected by their practice of a wide array of popular divination or healing practices.” - Sueann Caulfield, co-editor of Honor, Status, and Law in Modern Latin American History