Ep79 - David Grann

"Grann himself inspires a devotion in readers that can border on the obsessive,” writes a Slate journalist describing the work of New Yorker reporter David Grann. We can understand why. Grann’s work is obsessively researched and crafted until he produces journalism so exquisitely wrought that you found yourself obsessively talking about it with anyone who will listen. Fittingly enough, Grann’s favorite topic to write about is obsession—the obsession of explorers, detectives, murderers, con artists or anyone. In his first book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, Grann tells the story of Percy Fawcett a once world famous explorer’s search for El Dorado, a legendary city Fawcett believed to be in the Amazon. Through penis-parasitizing fish, terrifying parasites and much more, Fawcett’s expedition endured a harrowing journey through one of the most potentially deadly places on the planet. In his second book, The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession Grann brings together his finest articles for The New Yorker in one place. You might as well buy them both, because once you read one you’ll want to obsessively read the other. Be sure to Rate and Comment on iTunes.