The Lost City of Z (book)
Encyclopedia
- For other uses see Lost City of Z (disambiguation)Lost City of Z (disambiguation)Lost City of Z may refer to:* Lost City of Z, a fabled lost city in the Amazon* The Lost City of Z , a 2005 New Yorker article and 2009 book by David Grann* The Lost City of Z , an upcoming film produced and starring Brad Pitt...
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (2009) is a non-fiction book by American author David Grann
David Grann
David Grann is an American literary journalist and best-selling author. He has written about a range of subjects, from New York City's antiquated water supply system to the hunt for giant squid to the U.S...
. It tells the story of the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett
Percy Fawcett
Lt. Colonel Percival Harrison Fawcett was a British artillery officer, archaeologist and South American explorer....
who, in 1925, disappeared with his son in the Amazon while looking for an ancient lost city. For decades, explorers and scientists have tried to find evidence of his party and the Lost City of Z
Lost City of Z
The Lost City of Z is the name given by Col. Percy Harrison Fawcett, a British surveyor, to a city that he thought existed in the jungle of the Mato Grosso region of Brazil...
. Perhaps as many as 100 people perished or disappeared searching for Fawcett over the years. Grann made his own journey into the Amazon, revealing new evidence about how Fawcett died and showing that Z may have really existed right under his feet.
Reception
Published in February 2009, The Lost City of Z was reviewed in the Sunday New York Times by Rich Cohen, who called it "a powerful narrative, stiff lipped and Victorian at the center, trippy at the edges, as if one of those stern men of Conrad had found himself trapped in a novel by García Márquez." The New York Times critic Michiko KakutaniMichiko Kakutani
is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning critic for The New York Times and is considered by many to be a leading literary critic in the United States.-Life and career:...
named it one of the ten best books of 2009. In her review of the book, she wrote that it "is at once a biography, a detective story and a wonderfully vivid piece of travel writing that combines Bruce Chatwin
Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin was an English novelist and travel writer. He won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel On the Black Hill...
esque powers of observation with a Waugh-like
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
sense of the absurd. Mr. Grann treats us to a harrowing reconstruction of Fawcett’s forays into the Amazonian jungle, as well as an evocative rendering of the vanished age of exploration. ... Suspenseful … Rollicking ... Fascinating ... It reads with all the pace and excitement of a movie thriller and all the verisimilitude and detail of firsthand reportage.” The Washington Post called it "a thrill ride from start to finish.” It was also reviewed by author Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester
Simon Winchester, OBE , is a British-American author and journalist who resides mostly in the United States. Through his career at The Guardian, Winchester covered numerous significant events including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal...
in The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, who called the book "captivating." The book was named to countless best and notable books of the year lists, including Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Publisher's Weekly, Sunday New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Bloomberg, Providence Journal, Globe and Mail, Evening Standard, Amazon, and McClatchy Newspapers. Barnes and Noble named it the single best nonfiction book of 2009.
Awards and honors
- New York Times bestseller (Nonfiction, 2009)
- Samuel Johnson PrizeSamuel Johnson PrizeThe Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction is one of the most prestigious prizes for non-fiction writing. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award and based on an anonymous donation. The prize is named after Samuel Johnson...
, shortlist (2009) - Amazon's Best Books of the YearAmazon's Best Books of the YearAmazon's Best Books of the Year is a list of best books created yearly by Amazon.com. It is a list of best books picked by Amazon editors and customers. It began in 2000. Customer favorites are ranked according to the number of sales made through October, for books published in that calender year...
(#58, 2009) - Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
’s Top 10 Best Books: 2009 - Publishers WeeklyPublishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
's Best Books: 2009 - New York Times Notable Book of the Year (Nonfiction, 2009)
- ALA Notable Books for Adults (2010)
- Indies Choice Book Award (Adult Non-fiction, 2010)
- Globe and Mail Best Book (Travel 2009)
- The Essential Man's Library: 50 Non-Fiction Adventure Books
- Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Nonfiction, 2009)
Editions
A paperback edition was released in January 2010.- The Lost City of Z has been translated into more than 25 languages.
Film, television and theatrical adaptations
The Lost City of Z was optioned by Brad PittBrad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
’s Plan B
Plan B Entertainment
Plan B Entertainment is a film production company founded by Brad Pitt, Brad Grey, and Jennifer Aniston. In 2006, Pitt became the sole owner; the company currently holds a release deal with Paramount Pictures, along with Warner Bros...
production company and Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. A film has yet to be produced.
See also
- Brazilian AdventureBrazilian AdventureBrazilian Adventure is a book by Peter Fleming about his search for the lost Colonel Percy Fawcett in the Brazilian jungle. Fawcett along with his son and another companion had disappeared while searching for the Lost City of Z in 1925...
(1933), by Peter Fleming, travel literature about a search for Fawcett - Road to ZanzibarRoad to ZanzibarRoad to Zanzibar is a 1941 Paramount Pictures comedy film starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, and marked the second picture in the popular "Road to …" series made by the trio....
(1941), movie loosely based on the search for Fawcett - Indiana Jones and the Seven VeilsIndiana Jones and the Seven VeilsIndiana Jones and the Seven Veils is the third of 12 Indiana Jones novels published by Bantam Books. Rob MacGregor, the author of this book, also wrote five of the other Indiana Jones books for Bantam...
(1991), Indiana Jones novelIndiana Jones franchiseThe Indiana Jones franchise is an entertainment franchise, based on the historical fantasy adventures of Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones, a fictional archaeologist. It began in 1981 with the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. A prequel, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, followed in 1984 and the sequel...
with a plot to find Fawcett.
External links
- "Lost City of Z", The New Yorker, September 15, 2005. Original article that led to the book.
- Lost City of Z, official book website.
- The Lost City of Z, Chapter 1, book excerpt, The Wall Street Journal
- "The search for a mythical lost city", NPR interview with David Grann
- Anonymous. Manuscript 512 (1754), about the first expedition to The Lost City (Portuguese).
- (Video) The Lost City of Z, author interview on Fora.tvFORA.tvFORA.tv, Inc. runs a website that gathers a large collection of unmediated video drawn from live events, lectures, and debates at universities, think tanks and conferences....