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Real People/Real Stories: A Nonfiction Book Group
August 17, 2023 @ 2:00 pm
Free
Real People/Real Stories meets the third Thursday of each month to explore the best in nonfiction history, biography, science, nature, and the arts.
This month’s selection is The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann .
In 1740, His Majesty’s ship The Wager set sail on a secret mission and promptly vanished. Two years later, the crew reappeared, but were at odds with each other. Accusations of mutiny, tyranny, treachery, and murder led to a high stakes court martial in this powerful, true-life nautical adventure from the author of Killers of the Flower Moon.
“The most gripping sea-yarn I’ve read in years…. A tour de force of narrative nonfiction. Mr. Grann’s account show how storytelling, whether to judges or readers, can shape individual and national fortunes – as well as our collective memories.” —Wall Street Journal
“Not just a good but a great story, fraught with duplicity, terror and occasional heroism… the story of the Wager is, like many of its antecedents
— from Homer’s “Odyssey” to “Mutiny on the Bounty” — a testament to the depths of human depravity and the heights of human endurance, and you can’t ask for better than that from a story…The Wager will keep you in its grip to its head-scratching, improbable end.” — Los Angeles Times
“This astonishing tale of maritime warfare, mutiny and survival in the 18th-century Atlantic proves that a nonfiction book can be as thrilling as any summer blockbuster.” — People
The Wager is a soaring literary accomplishment and seductive adventure tale… enthralling, seamlessly crafted… The Wager then, is an accomplishment as vividly realized and ingeniously constructed as Grann’s previous work, on par with Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air and Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm. Welcome a classic.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A masterclass in story-telling…With a series of twists and turns worthy of a well-plotted thriller, the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, uncovers an epic sea-faring tale…Epic true story as told by a master… David Grann has produced this riveting book…with the artistry of a superb novelist.” — The Toronto Star