Classics Club Spin Pick: Brazilian Adventure by Peter Fleming

The results are in and #10 was the number picked for the Classics Club Spin event. From my list of twenty books created last week, Peter Fleming’s 1933 travel memoir, Brazilian Adventure was chosen to be the book I will commit to reading by January 1, 2014.

From the Goodreads description: “In 1932, Peter Fleming, a literary editor, traded his pen for a pistol and took off as part of the celebrated search for missing English explorer Colonel P.H. Fawcett. With meager supplies, faulty maps, and packs of rival newspapermen on their trail, Fleming and his companions marched, canoed, and hacked through 3,000 miles of wilderness and alligator-ridden rivers in search of the fate of the lost explorer.”

I first heard of Brazilian Adventure from Jenny’s 2012 review at Shelf Love, and her review convinced me that the book should go on to my to-read list. Excerpt from her review: “Fleming tells his story with style, in an offhand, witty-banter sort of way that makes you feel as if Peter Wimsey at his most urbane were ushering you up the Amazon. He talks as if piranhas are a big disappointment because they didn’t even try to devour him the second he dropped a pinky in the river”.

Based on my enjoyment of books such as Redmond O’Hanlon’s Into the Heart of Borneo, I think that Brazilian Adventure and I will get along swimmingly.

Also, two cool facts: Peter Fleming was the older brother of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond. And Peter Fleming married Celia Johnson, the actress who starred in the wonderful David Lean film, Brief Encounter.

A check of my local library’s catalog did not yield the book, so I will probably end up buying it used online.