Do you savor a good adventure/quest yarn? Full of danger, secrets, unfriendly natives, natural predators and mystery? Imagine a middle-aged New Yorker, laptop in hand, plunked down in the Amazon jungle looking for the legendary El Dorado. That New Yorker is David Grann, who wrote about his adventure in The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon.
It’s the story of British explorer Percy Fawcett who ventured into the Amazon in 1925 determined to find the ancient civilization, rumors of which have inspired so many novels, including Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World. Fawcett, his son and his entire party vanished. Grann says, “I had to remind myself that everything in this story is true: a movie star really was abducted by Indians; there were cannibals, ruins, secret maps and spies, explorers died from starvation, disease, attacks by wild animals and poisonous arrows….” Other expeditions followed Fawcett’s and many attempts to repeat his path have failed. Legend, biography, travel/adventure and history blend in this tale of obsession based on Fawcett’s diaries. Grann’s polished writing makes it a compelling read.
Westport native David Grann will speak at the Library on Monday July 13 at 7:30 pm. His talk will include photographs. Don’t miss it!
(The Lost City of Z is being developed into a movie by Brad Pitt's Plan B production company and Paramount Pictures.)
