brazil Archives

Unconquered, The: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes

Brazilian Whacks Author: Scott Wallace Generally speaking, I’d be up for visiting most parts of the planet (excluding the ones that aren’t currently at war or experiencing a natural disaster). But I think I might have to draw the line at the Amazon jungle after reading Scott Wallace’s harrowing nonfiction account, The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes. While most people wouldn’t want to endure the hardships, starvation, and murderous flora and fauna that Wallace encountered on a seemingly hourly basis during his jungle trek, it does make for a thrilling tale of high adventure, best enjoyed [...]

A Different Kind of Amazon

Nine times out of ten, if I'm saying "books" and "Amazon" in the same sentence, I'm talking about the kind with free super saver shipping. But this time, I just finished a double header of books about the Amazon jungle — and the horrors I encountered therein have convinced me to keep my ass planted firmly on the couch for the remainder of my sedentary but not-eaten-by-crocodiles life. First I read Ann Patchett's State of Wonder, in which a team of research scientists studying a native tribe's miracle fertility drug disappears into the jungle for months, then years. The pharmaceutical [...]