yet, as castro highlights, ipanema only began to revel in the spotlight in the 1950s and 60s - in those decades it was home to a wide array of celebrity inhabitants, but was also a wonderfully exuberant melting pot of fisherman, bohemians and artists of all generations.

as castro writes, the small strip of rio de janeiro coast, 'has produced the highest amount of chroniclers, poets, novelists, designers, architects, cartoonists, artists, composers, singers, journalists, photographers, filmmakers, playwrights, writers, set designers, costume designers, actors, tv directors, models, fashion designers and athletes in the whole of brazil.'

castro was born in 1948 and began his fruitful career as a reporter and biographer in 1967 - she is carioca: an encyclopedia of ipanema is available in most main bookstores, and online via livraria travessa on this link or via livraria folha here.