I’ve been reading The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann.  The book is aptly named considering Grann spends almost the entire book talking about Percy Fawcett’s (an Amazonian explorer that disappeared) dogged need to constantly be trekking through the jungle searching for a city that almost no one but him believes exists.  And what can I say, it’s fascinating.

I’m coming to the part where Grann heads into to the Amazon to follow Percy’s last route and it’s interesting to see how he tempers his own obsession.  As others before him that have gone into the jungle to search for Fawcett, he too finds himself following any hint of information.  He even makes several trips to England and Brazil before going into the Amazon to read Fawcett’s papers and speak with family members in the hope of gleaming something useful for his own trip.

Grann’s writing is straightforward — he is a journalist — so there’s not a lot of flowery language which fits his topic well.  He does add some vivid descriptions of what a jungle disease can and will do to human flesh, and if you’re like me and find yourself at this point while eating lunch, it will make you want to stop eating but not stop reading.  He’s amusing as well especially when he talks about his shopping excursion to a Manhattan camping and hiking store to buy supplies.

This is starting to sound a lot like a review so that is all this morning.  Happy reading.