This is a book club episode. In it, Travis and Amanda will discuss and analyze the first half of The Lost City of Z by David Grann. You should expect full “spoilers,” discussions of rhetorical elements, and celebrations / critiques of style and substance.
From the cover: “After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed writer David Grann set out to determine what happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z. For centuries Europeans believed the Amazon, the world’s largest rain forest, concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. Then he vanished…In this masterpiece, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for ‘Z’ and his own journey into the deadly jungle.”