There’s a reason they call Rio de Janeiro the Marvelous City. To behold the curved coastline, the dramatic dips and peaks of the mountainous landscape covered in rainforest foliage, is a marvel all its own. It’s the people though—surfing at sunset, shimmying to the sounds of samba, cheering in raucous glory as their soccer team scores—that make it feel truly marvelous.
I lived in the city for a year nearly a decade ago, and the city’s name still evokes a knee-jerk feeling of wonder for me. So I was excited to speak to Bruno Astuto (himself a Carioca, a Rio de Janeiro local), who authored Assouline’s latest destination coffee table book, Rio de Janeiro. It’s a feast for the eyes, bursting at the seams with feathers and sequins and colorful street art, as well as his second ode to the city for the imprint. “My last book for Assouline was the Spirit of Rio in 2016, but so much has changed since then—especially after the Olympics in 2017—and the way we all see the city has changed, too,” says Astuto. This splashy tome was a chance for Astuto to reflect on the place that raised him, and what has shone through about the city’s soul despite changes and global attention brought on by major events like the Olympics.
At its core, Astuto—a longtime columnist with Vogue Brasil—finds a city that continues to build on its rich heritage. The good, the bad, the marvelous, from art and culture, to colonial history and diasporic influences. What stands out most in 2025 is the power of travel to the city, and the conversations it can bring. “We are proud to show the best that we have to tourists,” says Astuto, “and travel has become a form of education”—for both visitor, and visited, alike.
I hopped on the phone with Astuto for a vibrant conversation about Rio de Janeiro, his love letter to the Marvelous City.
