How presumptuous the author of this book!" Thus Coping begins. The author happens to be a white guy from the United States writing about Afro-Brazilian poor in the city of Salvador, Brazil, where he and his Mexican wife have made a second home. But the viewpoint guiding this book is neither Anglo-American nor Mexican nor Afro-Brazilian, but something else: an ongoing coalescent tri-cultural process. If you will, let the following opinions qualify this process: "Coping is a jargon-free literary expression that is as informative and unsettling as it is entertaining." --Silvia Oliveira, Rhode Island College "Combining partly fictional and partly factual accounts involving Afro-Bahians from various walks of life, Merrell"s text manages to be both informative and puzzling." --Jos dos Santos, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil "The book is poignant and profound, yet it is written in a fluid prose that will be appealing to a general audience." --Araceli Tinajero, City College of New York "A profound sensibility underpins the entire book, as Merrell flows through his own "invisibility" as observer to become a formidable fighter for the "invisible" people he has come to know so well." --Patrice Rankine, Purdue University "On every page Merrell becomes someone else, and with each becoming he makes "visible" the "invisible" people of Baha. Coping is the "invisible" Bahians" story. It is Baha. It is Floyd Merrell." --Tracy Brandenburg, Cornell University "Merrell"s book helps us understand what it feels like to be Afro-Brazilian and poor. This is a significant accomplishment because it gives a public voice to folks who otherwise are seldom heard." --Paul Dixon, Purdue University