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Rating: 
Summary: Well worth the 7 bucks
Review: I actually bought this book not as a tourist, but simply to communicate better with a Brazilian friend I have. I wanted a quick start to supplement what I'd been picking up from her.
So far, it's been far more helpful than I'd expect out of such a tiny book. The grammar tools are very helpful in using something other than the canned phrases in most books of this type, as I can usually piece together a new sentence when necessary. Some of the more generic, non-touristy sections are also very helpful in terms of the canned phrases, as knowing simple things like greetings and such comes in handy.
There do seem to be some pronunciation issues as noted in other reviews, but only so much can be expected from a book. It helps to have a native speaker nearby to clear up trying to say some of the harder words. These could also be regional differences, as well.
Overall, it's been very helpful as a starting point, and I've surprised my friend by occasionally springing a phrase on her she didn't expect me to know, or understanding a sentence or two. It's not the same as a proper course, but it's a very good start. Probably invaluable to a tourist.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent except for the pronunciation guide
Review: (This is for the 3rd edition Oct. 2003) An excellent pocket guide to Brazilian Portuguese. Good use of color and illustrations rarely seen in a foreign language dictionary. Begins with important grammar points, then covers various subjects (accommodation, shopping, etc.) and concludes with English-Portuguese dictionary (& vice-versa) in the back. The entire dictionary section has a purple color tab, making it hard to find where English-Portuguese ends and Portuguese-English begins.My only real sore point is with the pronunciation. They seem to have forgotten this isn't Spanish!! Letter 'D' changes to something between the English "DZ" and "J" sound when followed by vowels E, I, and ÃO. In Brazilian Portuguese "Pode" sounds like "POO-jay" and "cidade" like "see-DAH-jay". Yet this book has you pronouncing them as if they were Spanish words. Direct pronuncation quote: "see.daa.de" (with "daa" in italics which are hard to see--CAPS for stress would be better.) Overall, a great book at $7.99 list--just remember the 'D' rule!!
Rating:
Summary: The right perspective
Review: As one reader put it, this book has nothing to do with Portuguese. In fact it is on Brazilian language, which is becoming a distant dialect from the latter. So if you want to learn Portuguese, avoid this book, but if you want to learn Brazilian, that is your choice.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Brazilian Portuguese book
Review: As the book title says it's a Brazilian phrasebook, and for those who said that most pages have multiple errors in spelling and grammatical errors, all I can say is that it's so not true. As a Brazilian born and native Brazilian Portuguese speaker, I can guarantee that. But you must remeber that Brazilian Portuguese and Portugal Portuguese are almost two different languages, so you can't use this book to survive in Portugal.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't buy this book!
Review: Don't even think about trying to survive in Brasil on this book. While other LP language guides (I have used their guides to Latin American Spanish, Mongolian, and Russian) are thorough, and provide lots of conversational phrases to get you into and out of almost any key travel situation, this one is woefully lacking in any aspect. Not enough vocabularly, not enough questions, not enough areas. After three weeks in Brasil, I managed to successfully use this book twice. It's cheap but it's not worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book!
Review: Don't even think about trying to survive in Brasil on this book. While other LP language guides (I have used their guides to Latin American Spanish, Mongolian, and Russian) are thorough, and provide lots of conversational phrases to get you into and out of almost any key travel situation, this one is woefully lacking in any aspect. Not enough vocabularly, not enough questions, not enough areas. After three weeks in Brasil, I managed to successfully use this book twice. It's cheap but it's not worth the purchase price.
Rating:
Summary: This NEW edition is the best phrase book
Review: One of the other reviewers gave this book one star back in 2002. I think a new edition has come out since then and this new edition is probably the BEST travel phrase book I have ever seen! Definitely worth 5 STARS.
I just got back from a trip to Brazil. I traveled with the earlier edition, which I agree is worth only one star. During the trip I met someone who had this new edition and I was blown away. Apparently Lonely Planet must have really listened to real travellers before putting out this new edition. It is really well thought out and highly useful. I could continue to wax on about it, but I'll just say BUY THIS ONE!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent - Don't leave home without it
Review: This book is great. When I bought it I didn't fully understand how useful it might turn out to be. In the end, I only used it once during a conversation, but with great results. Throwing in just a few nice comments in Brazilian at the right moment really made the whole difference.
It only costs a couple of bucks. Do yourself a favour and get it.
Rating:
Summary: Hardly a page not packed with mistakes.
Review: This book should be avoided if you are interested in learning anything about the Portuguese language. Most pages have multiple errors in spelling, and many have grammatical errors also. If you are learning how to speak (and read) Portuguese, this book will do much more harm than good.
Rating: 
Summary: Too grammatical
Review: You don't want grammar in a phrase book! But this one is full of it. Nouns, adjectives, definite articles, indefinite articles, pronouns, subjects, objects, regular verbs, irregular verbs, double-stemmed verbs, you-name-it verbs. If I wanted a grammar, I would have bought one. You don't want grammar lessons in a phrase book. I find this amount of grammar in a phrase book quite out of place.
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