F. A. Mitchell-Hedges (1882–1959)

Very enjoyable series of tales, of doubtful veracity, of the author's adventures after escaping his humdrum upbringing in England. He goes to America, becomes friends of millionaires, makes and loses a fortune in the stock market, but all the time longs to fulfill his real dream of exploring the jungles of Central and South America. His initial attempt at that is diverted by being captured by Pancho Villa, who at finding he is British rather than a hated American, forces him to join his gang. The outbreak of World War I gives Mitchell-Hedges an excuse to beg his leave, but further delays his dreams of being an explorer.

Eventually he does of course, along with becoming a big game fisherman (fishing seems to take up an inordinate part of this book, including claimed catches of a 5500 pound sawfish and a few other multi-thousand pound sharks, rays, and other things.) There is also a lot of time spent on surviving horrific storms at sea, swarms of mosquitoes, leeches, and other plagues. Luckily the natives he meets, while primitive, tend to be friendly -- frequently offering him a bride or two.

Mitchell-Hedges claims discovery of cities that were already discovered, and there are other sections that seem like boasting or exaggeration, but the fact remains that this is a great read. Quite likely he is one of the inspirations for Indiana Jones, and in watching Pixar's Up, I couldn't help but feel that he was an inspiration for the explorer in that film who inspires the two young characters to dream of a life of adventure.

The big disappointment in the book is the brief mention of the Crystal Skull of Doom - of whose mysterious properties Mitchell-Hedges says, "It has been described as the embodiment of all evil. I do not wish to try and explain this phenomena." I think that should have been "this phenomenon". There are a few other editing errors in this edition, but overall, he is an engaging writer, although the narrative gets more and more episodic as the book reaches its end. As for the Crystal Skull, it was apparently a fraud also--but I will forever live in fear of it, recalling my first encounter with its legendary properties in an old Believe It or Not book, where it was claimed that anyone who mocked it, soon died. Personally, I don't want to go anywhere near it....… (mais)