Saturday, March 17, 2012

Lost City of Z

by David Grann

This was on my list of books to read for both 2010 and 2011 and I finally read it. It is a non-fiction account of a journalist trying to retrace the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett who went missing in the Amazon in 1925 trying to find a lost city which he called Z, something akin to El Dorado. I enjoyed it but it wasn't as exciting as I expected.

I found Percy Fawcett and his wife very interesting and while some reviewers were annoyed that it had too much of the author's story in it, I found that interesting as well. (I always imagine that I would enjoy being a sleuth in old musty libraries - I was a history major after all.) I also find stories of explorers before the advent of GPS and satellite phones fascinating, as must others as there have been quite a few recent books (both fiction and non-fiction) on the subject. And of course there is always fascination with the Amazon (the tv show The River and huge hit State of Wonder by Ann Patchett). I am glad I read it but it probably won't be on my top 2012 list.

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