Book Review: The Wager by David Grann

The Internet, for those of us who remember life without it, is a funny thing. It can give you information in a split second. But it can also give you misinformation, misdirection, and outright falsehoods equally as fast.

Such as with life, which is actually the subject of David Grann's The Wager.

But the Internet can also give you the right information quicker than you need it.

I was surfing (is that what we still call it? Let me know, millennials!) The Ringer (also, is this grammatically correct? I feel like stuff on the Internet is still a step below movies, TV, and books, so I'm not prone to bolding or italicizing the name. I was even thinking of putting down "theringer.com", although I decided that was too formal.

Also, did you ever think about the name "italics"? I mean, how rough must it have been to write correctly in Italy? And when did they abandon their flourishy style?

Okay, I digress.)

and came across a story about David Grann. And...I went right past it, since I didn't recognize the name despite already reading his book (and having already read The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon). But the SECOND time I scrolled past it I realized its connection to me, so I opened it up and read it.

Despite giving a spoiler warning, the book wasn't really spoiled - I don't think it can be, since Grann pretty much tells you what's going to happen in the introduction of the book. But it did tell me how to think about it. The article said that Grann was thinking about the lies and deceits that the Internet and modern politics has helped spread, and at the same time was investigating the story of a shipwreck in the 1740s in Patagonia of a British naval vessel named The Wager. The two themes came together when he read about the aftermath of the shipwreck, with different survivors arriving back in England at different times, each with a different story of what actually happened.

So, I started to read a book I thought was about a shipwreck, and thanks to that article on The Ringer I realized it was really about truthiness. All credit due, you can read a better take on the book than I can give you right here: https://www.theringer.com/movies/2023/5/18/23727763/david-grann-killers-of-the-flower-moon-cannes-film-festival

So anyway, this is a captivating book - Grann sets up the characters well, and even though there are several that are important to the plot he makes very clear who are the handful that are key to the story. He also crafts a fine narrative throughout the story that keeps you enthralled throughout. One other thing to note, on a point which is always a stickler for a landlubber like me, is that he doesn't just throw out things like "haul in the jib line" or "lash the main sail", he actually takes time to explain what the nautical phrases mean. In one outstanding section he even talks about how the prominence of 18th century sailing impacted the English language, giving us phrases like "toe the line" and "dinner bell" and "under the weather".

So this is another great book by Grann - I'll give it nine out of ten hot dogs!