The Lost City of Z

A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

By: David Grann

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A grand mystery reaching back centuries. A sensational disappearance that made headlines around the world. A quest for truth that leads to death, madness or disappearance for those who seek to solve it. The Lost City of Z is a blockbuster adventure narrative about what lies beneath the impenetrable jungle canopy of the Amazon.

After stumbling upon a hidden trove of diaries, acclaimed New Yorker writer David Grann set out to solve "the greatest exploration mystery of the 20th century": What happened to the British explorer Percy Fawcett and his quest for the Lost City of Z?

In 1925 Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history.

For centuries Europeans believed the world's largest jungle 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. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle's The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions, Fawcett embarked with his 21-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization, which he dubbed "Z", existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.

Fawcett's fate, and the tantalizing clues he left behind about "Z", became an obsession for hundreds who followed him into the uncharted wilderness. For decades scientists and adventurers have searched for evidence of Fawcett's party and the lost City of Z. As David Grann delved ever deeper into the mystery surrounding Fawcett's quest, and the greater mystery of what lies within the Amazon, he found himself, like the generations who preceded him, being irresistibly drawn into the jungle's "green hell". His quest for the truth and his stunning discoveries about Fawcett's fate and "Z" form the heart of this complex, enthralling narrative.

©2009 David Grann (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"The story of Z goes to the heart of the central questions of our age. In the battle between man and a hostile environment, who wins? A fascinating and brilliant book." (Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and The Tipping Point)

a very dull listen

although the subject is intriguing I found the storytelling and the narrator to be very dull.

Feel yourself going insane!

You can feel your own sanity slipping as you listen to these true-life horrors of the exploration and descent into the green Hell.

An amazing journey into the Amazon

This is a compelling narrative of the early 20th century explorer Percival Fawcett and his search for the lost city of gold deep in the Amazonian jungle. But it is also the author's own extraordinary journey to discover Fawcett's fate and maybe even El Dorado itself. The descriptions are vivid, the characters real, and I remained entranced with this book until the final spoken word. I highly recommend it.

Fun book

Neat book but not as much adventure as I anticipated. Thought there would be more adventure and less historical information.

Page Turner

Whatever you call the audio version of a page turner. I love Grann’s writing style and the story was absolutely fascinating.

Exciting

Excellent investigative interweaving of history and present. Enjoyed the reader and the story. Incredible amount of detail.

Great research and wonderful information

This has a slow start, but all that story comes together near the end. Well organized, and the truth of the story make it almost unbelievable. Really liked the time frame; it reminds us of the expertise of explorers very recently

Pleasantly Surprised

I decided to purchase this audiobook after reading Killers of the Flower Moon by the same author. I had never heard of the lost city of Z. The story was intriguing and well written.

A must-read for anyone interested in South America

If you could sum up The Lost City of Z in three words, what would they be?

Clash of cultures

What other book might you compare The Lost City of Z to and why?

If you liked this, you should also read "Turn Right at Machu Picchu" and "Road Fever." The former is very similar to "The Lost City of Z" in that it tells the tale of a present-day journalist trying to follow in the footsteps of a Western explorer (read: white male) of the early part of the 1900s, but in Peru instead of Brazil. The second book is a really funny and incredibly well-written first person account of some US adventurers (also white males) who, in the 1980s, drove from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay in just 23 days.

Which scene was your favorite?

So many memorable moments involving horrible maggot infestations, ticks, starvation, etc but can't really call those "favorites." I really loved the final chapter.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It was hard to put down, I managed to finish it in just a couple of days.

Better than Tiger King!

This was a wild ride, while still being incredibly educational! follow the life of PH Foster, and the ripple effect he had on the world and his influence in anthropology.

There's intrigue, mystery, murder, cannibalism, racism, undercover spies, and more, all with a backdrop of anthropological thought and history (and the pitfalls of British self agrandizing). Great read!!