Moved by the Dead

“Amoruso masterfully interweaves careful analysis of local history with religious studies theory, anthropological insight, the changing urban landscape, and good old-fashioned storytelling. . . . [A] well-written and fascinating introduction to religious faith in Brazil as it exists on the ground level. Highly recommended.”—CHOICE

“Michael Amoruso’s fascinating book takes an ethnographic perspective to examine how human suffering ‘sustains the relationship between the living and the dead.’ . . . Over many years of fieldwork . . . [his] conversations with devotees and insights make his study come alive for the reader.”—Nova Religio

“[Recommended] for all those interested in contemporary religious practice, memory politics, social violence, and urban Brazil.”—American Religion

“Devotion to souls is largely an individual practice motivated by personal suffering, but the object of that devotion—the suffering souls of the dead—speaks to larger histories of state violence that continue to haunt the living. Amoruso’s exciting book brings careful attention to the complex ways that social memory, trauma, and identity are bound up in this commonplace practice, revealing much about religion and about the politics of race and public memory in São Paulo.”—Kelly E. Hayes, Indiana University Indianapolis

“Amoruso perfectly blends ethnographic insights and theoretical reflections of the highest standard. The work contributes to a range of disciplines, from anthropology of religion and religious studies to Brazilian studies, oral history, and urban studies.”—Bettina E. Schmidt, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David