3.5 stars!

This cover is absolutely stunning and I did in fact request this book because of it. I definitely did laugh as I was reading it, and did find it deeply unserious, but unfortunately I haven't really thought about it since I read it. Would definitely recommend for someone who wants something just kinda head empty and ridiculous with a certified good time.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Swamp Story

by Dave Barry

I have long enjoyed Dave Barry’s humor in the columns which brought him fame. I have four of his books on my bookshelf which in general are thematic collections of his writings on subjects like travel and aging. Swamp Story is my first reading of a novel by Barry. His humor permeates this book from tongue in cheek jabs at politicians to outrageous slapstick.

There are several major characters whose lives cross dramatically and surprisingly. Jesse and her baby Willa live with the baby’s worthless father Slater and his equally worthless buddy Kark. Jesse has made a series of mistakes and wants to get her baby out of their disgusting circumstances in the swamps of Florida. Stu, a marketing executive, and Phil, an alcoholic journalist, are middle aged, unemployed men. Ken and Brad are the Bortle brothers, trying (not very hard) to make a living in the bait shop left to them by their father. Ken’s main income sources are illegal.

Emerging from Dave Barry’s pen, these characters find themselves in some serious situations that Barry transforms into humor. Drug use leaves most of the men stoned most of the time, deciding that they have brilliant ideas. Phil and Stu are last minute hires as Elsa and her sidekick at a four year old’s birthday party. What happens there is caught on video and goes viral. That intersects with Ken’s idea to bring in customers with a branding of the Melon Monster. Kark gets involved as a videographer, and Slater sees this as an opportunity to show off his flawless body. Thanks to the wonders of TikTok and social media, the branding plan works! In a separate plot line, there are a number of characters involved in a search for lost gold which legend says is somewhere in the Everglades. As the story plays out, we see that the love of money is indeed the root of all evil. The tale includes a number of tense moments and a little romance. Not to be forgotten characters include the Secretary of the Interior who hates the outdoor; Skeeter Toobs, the longtime Python Champion winner and his emotional support boar Buddy; Zelda the python; and a fast-moving, hungry alligator.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Fiction, Humor

Notes: 1. There is LOTS of salty dialogue in this book along with drug use.
2. Dave Barry is a talented writer. I thought the book was funny and inventive, but because of the language (which was appropriate to the characters) I would not reread it.

Publication: May 2, 2023—Simon & Schuster

Memorable Lines:

The Bongo Mongo business model was built on the assumption that by the time the customers were handed the check, they would be too wasted to read it.

To say that Erik had a gambling problem was like saying that Hitler had an empathy problem.

Chastain handled the Cornwall interrogation with the smooth professionalism of the experienced, principle-free politician, emitting a dense, billowing cloud of words suggesting, without explicitly saying it, that he either was or was not deeply concerned about climate change, and as such was taking all necessary steps.

This was a light quick read. Several parts made me LOL, the characters were quirky and it’s true when the author says “this is just Florida”

There were aspects of this book I loved and others I didn’t. I found Jesse and Phil’s storylines more favorable than others. I really did not enjoy Slater, Duck, Billy, Ken, Stu, Kristof, etc. It’s hard to love a book with so many characters you dislike.

I get the point of the characters being so ridiculous, dumb, etc. they do live in Florida after all! And no story would make sense anywhere else, it’s just hard to continue to pick up the book.

It was so ridiculous, you needed to be ready for it.

I don't even know what the heck this was but it was ridiculous. In a surprisingly good way. 😂 It was a silly "Florida Man" book but definitely had some chuckle-worthy and laugh-out-loud moments. I'd never read anything by Dave Barry before this.

This book offers a refreshing and comedic take on the typically mysterious and foreboding world of swamps. Unlike traditional swamp narratives, Barry's work combines humor and adventure to create a lighthearted yet engaging reading experience. The protagonist, a bumbling yet endearing character, stumbles into the swamp's eccentric community, setting the stage for a series of comical escapades. Barry's witty writing style injects life into the characters, and their interactions are sprinkled with laugh-out-loud moments. The dialogue is sharp, and the author's comedic timing adds a layer of amusement to even the most mundane situations. The swamp itself becomes a character in its own right, with Barry's humorous descriptions turning the ominous into the absurd. The author's ability to find humor in the murkiest of waters showcases a keen observational wit that keeps the narrative entertaining throughout.

Dave Barry does it again!! Fans won't be disappointed. What a fun read!! Don't miss out on this one!

I appreciate the ARC to review from Net Galley. I try to be very careful of which ARCs I request, I like to be pretty sure they will get a good review. I have enjoyed a few Dave Barry books, but not this one. I could not finish it. He is typically pretty darn funny, but unfortunately these characters were not in the least likable, and definitely not funny.

This was the craziest story I’ve read in a while, starts off with a snake and roller coasters out of control, it wasn’t bad though

Dave Barry once again delivers a hilarious satire of all things Florida.
The combination of treasure in the glades, wannabe reality TV stars, and mob enforcers comes to a perfect simmer with comedic hijinks.

Blog:
This was marketed to me as a humorous thriller, but humorous mystery is more accurate. There is absolutely a mystery – primarily who is going to get the gold – but I wouldn’t call it a thrilling, edge-of-seat read.

I love visiting Miami and the Everglades, and I’m happy to read books set there. The Everglades was particularly well described, as was Coral Gables, a posh neighborhood of Miami. I was interested in where the gold came from and who would ultimately get it. I also liked how many different characters end up merging together in one chaotic scene in the swamp. Building to that scene was a lot of plot work, and the author did it artfully without it ever feeling laborious to the reader.

There is a character who is in active alcohol addiction, and we essentially see his rock bottom followed by his willingness to seek recovery. The recovery he seeks is of the old school variety, but all pathways are valid. Unfortunately, his actual recovery is off-screen. (If you’d like to see on-screen recovery, check out my book, Waiting for Daybreak.) We do, however, get an epilogue to see where all the main characters end up, so we do actually get to see him living a sober life a little bit in the book, which I appreciated.

Something that stuck out to me when reading this book, though, was how few Latine characters there were. None showed up at all until about 40% of the way through the book, and then there was only one throughout the whole book. When I go to Miami, even my flight there from New England has Latine people on it. Latine people are everywhere in Miami, and a large part of what makes Miami feel the way it does is the presence of our Latin-American siblings. I love how there’s Spanish being spoken everywhere and various aspects of Cuban-American culture. Miami is 70.2% Hispanic or Latino (2020 data). So I was quite disappointed to have this book set in Miami and the Everglades with only one Latine character, and even that character was very minor.

With regards to the humor, I understand how other readers would find it funny. I could spot the scenes that other readers would find funny. But they just didn’t tickle my own personal funny bone. If you’re not sure if the humor will be a good match for you, read the first chapter. It’s a good representative of the humor throughout the book.

One other thing I must mention is part of the “thrills” of the book is that the sole female main character (who has a breastfeeding infant) is being followed by two ex-cons who are partially out to rape her. The majority of the danger she is under is of being raped by these two men. I personally prefer for the danger a character is facing in a thriller or a mystery to have nothing to do with sexual assault. While that may be the reality in the real world, I don’t get enjoyment out of that threat looming over the characters of any gender in my reads. (This post from Another Angry Woman does a great job of explaining why we don’t need the threat of sexual assault to understand a villain is bad.)

Overall, this is a zany and unique plot that depicts southern Florida’s natural settings quite well, although it misses the mark with depicting Florida’s human diversity. Readers should check out the first chapter to see if the humor is a match for them.

GoodReads:
Marketed as a humorous thriller. I didn't particularly find it that funny or that thrilling. I did find it to be an engaging plot and set of characters. A little lacking in diversity, especially given the setting of Miami and the Everglades. The storytelling style felt kind of like an omniscient documentary. I appreciated actually acknowledging a heavy-drinking character as having a problem.

Check out my full review.

*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*

Instagram:
I requested Swamp Story on NetGalley because it had an alligator on the cover but it had less alligators than I do. (Comment 🐊for a dm to my full review)
*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.*
#bookalicious #booksinthewild #avidreader #bookaesthetic #whatimreading #alligators

I'll be honest, this is no "Big Trouble". Dave Barry takes on Florida Man. But the issue, for once, he doesn't go far enough. The news is full of more amusing and insane antics which overshadows this novel. There are many of the archetypes Barry uses including an organized crime ring, evil professionals, and just plain idiots.
There is a section when all involved in the book come together which is the highlight of this book. Wild hogs peeing on politicians, gators running across the crowd, and gold bars being thrown is hilarious and sounds like Florida is doing their own Mardi Gra.
For me, I had some issues with the humor as a woman and child are being neglected and emotionally abused. She was just trying to do better and people just pooped all over. And then she didn't even end up with the thing that caused about two-thirds of the abuse.
And yes, Barry ends with a moral fable for the characters. Each character does have an appropriate ending.

As a native Floridian, I love Dave Barry's non-fiction writing but this one, Swamp Story was not my favorite. It might have been a case of wrong timing and maybe I need to try again in the future because the premise and setting seemed fun.

Dave Barry has such an imagination. This story was so wacky that it was such a fun read. The ending was a hoot! I hope he keeps writing these crazy FL stories.

A perfect storm of insane events come together to make a funny, laugh out loud story of mayhem.
Jessie, a young mother living with her wannabe star boyfriend and his cameraman, finds a gold treasure that could lead her out of her swamp house and provide a better life for her and her baby. In the meantime, Ken Bortle of Bortle Bothers Bait and Beer comes up with the idea of creating an Everglades melon monster to bring business to his dying store currently supported by his drug dealing business. Throw in a corrupt lawyer who owes money to a mobster, a more corrupt politician, a drug dealer looking for his profits and a newspaper woman that has to take the worst stories her young boss hands out.
Mix this all together and the craziness begins. But, after all, this is Florida.
My only criticism of this zany story was the over use of four letter words.
But, overall, a really fun read.

I thought this book was comical! From the Melon Head Monster, to throwing the gold bars at people to escape, to Slater thinking he was entitled to everything Jesse owned. I was so glad that Jesse, Brad, and Phil got happy endings. As a Floridian, this was such a Floridian book and I can't wait to recommend my friends to read it. The only thing I'd say, is this book isn't for people that don't like multiple POVs as there were about 7-8.

Humor is, of course, entirely subjective. But I know I can always count on Dave Barry to make me laugh, and I have for many years. If you aren't familiar with his columns or books, or his humor in general, you might not get this book at all. If you don't live in Florida, or aren't familiar with the infamous "Florida Man", again you might not be able to appreciate this one. But if you enjoy parody, satire, cautionary tales told with humor, you should definitely give this one a try. I live in Florida - have since 1997 - and Dave definitely knows Florida. The characters are over the top - but sadly don't actually stretch credulity. If you don't have a sense of humor, don't bother. If you know Dave Barry and his sense of humor doesn't align with yours, you probably won't change your mind with this one. Otherwise, I highly recommend. It's entertaining, it made me laugh out loud multiple times.
Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

I had a rollicking good time reading this adventure full of quirky characters. Dave Barry has done it again,
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a well-written very funny story set in Florida. It is absurd and ridiculous, but to me, a Floridian, totally believable.

"Pinky arrived punctually and silently in a highly modified Tesla equipped with bulletproof glass, a sound system that could liquefy granite and a front seat customized to accommodate Pinky’s body, which weighed a tad over 430 pounds and measured nearly the same horizontally as vertically. Pinky, whose real name was Bob Kearful, had once been a standout nose tackle at the University of Florida and probably would have gone to the NFL had it not been for a crucial play in the Florida-Georgia game during which he bit off the little finger of a Georgia offensive guard and refused to spit it out. This conduct was deemed so unsportsmanlike that Pinky was permanently banned from the game, though it also earned him his nickname and the undying affection of Gator fans."

Florida Man re-appears after years away as a novelist, having written an incredibly funny book! Police bring him in for questioning.

Ok, let’s play Sunshine State Bingo

Rednecks with weapons, minimal brain cells, and dreams of gold – of course

Foreign-born gangsters with access to tech, and no access to decency – I am shocked, shocked

A crooked lawyer with expensive tastes and a serious gambling habit – no, never

A sleazy politician with White House ambitions and zero scruples – In Florida? Surely you jest.

An uber-vain stud-muffin with an uncontrtollable desire to doff his shirt for the camera, and zero desire to care for or protect his wife and child – a vanishing breed, I expect. Probably the last of his kind.

A group of internet-star wannabees who, while in various states of intoxication from alcohol and diverse other substances, concoct a plot to fake a monster sighting to boost business – oh, that never happens

A former news anchor reduced to covering things like the annual Florida Python challenge – not a happy camper. There were fewer opportunities in the time before blogs became de rigeur for the unwillingly unemployed media crowd

A nice guy who wants to be with the girl – Stop right there. Who let the normie in? Well, the male normie.

Snakes – Yep, and snakes were intended to have been even more of a presence

"Originally this book was going to be much snakier. Then I had breakfast with Carl [Hiaasen], and he had just finished writing “Squeeze Me.”
I said, what’s it about? And he said, it’s in Palm Beach and there are pythons. I said, are there a lot of pythons in it? And he said yes.
So in “Swamp Story” the missing Confederate gold treasure buried in the Everglades sort of replaced the pythons in the plot." - from the Tampa Bay Times interview

Gators – wouldn’t be a Florida novel without ‘em

A wild boar comfort pet – Wait, what?

Fictitious swamp monsters - you betcha

Buried Treasure – as noted above. Bet you didn’t have that one.

We meet Slater as he is struggling to videotape the mother of his child, and the child, as they are attacked by a giant python. But hold on, will ya, while we replace the camera batteries. It’ll only be a sec. The man lives for footage, preferably footage that includes his impressive torso but footage of his gf and baby being devoured by a giant reptile would also be pretty cool, don’t ya think?

"He wore a filthy pair of cut-off University of Florida sweatpants, nothing else. Yet he still looked better than 99.999 percent of all human males who had ever walked the Earth. He was strikingly handsome in a classic Tom Cruise—in–his–prime way—thick, jet-black hair; brilliant green eyes; high cheekbones; square jaw. He was tall, a foot taller than Cruise, and his body, despite the fact that he never seemed to do anything for it, was spectacular—lean, muscular and sculpted, the body of an elite athlete in peak condition."

Jesse knows she is in a dead-end relationship, but had not thought that would mean literally dead. As fortune would have it, though, during one of her walks with Willa, her nursing baby girl, fathered unfortunately by a narcissist who wants to be known as Glades Man, she stumbles across a buried treasure. Thank you, Jesus, a ticket out of the swamp version of bum-fu#$-nowhere. But how to go about getting the bars somewhere safe, and figuring out how to cash them in?

"Who inspired Slater?

There are a lot of Slater-like guys in Miami. There are large sections, a whole community of people who are all about looks, about appearance. Looks are very important in this town.
So he’s just the distilled essence of a million guys walking around admiring their own beauty
That’s the essence of Slater — to the people who are into reality TV, nothing is as important to them as this fake thing, reality TV, and now TikTok as well. They never experience anything for itself, it’s always, how can I use this to get myself on the internet, on people’s phones?"
- from the Tampa Bay Times interview

The Bortle brothers, owners of Bortle Brothers Bait & Beer, make their primary living selling weed, beer being in short supply, somehow, and the bait being maybe 50% dead. The loo could use a cleaning this millennium, too. They decide to make a video of a fake monster to draw the curious and idiotic, both groups known to spend money on things like Monster Man T-shirts. These guys sure know how to dream big. If you film it, they will come. And, of course, it happens. Their video goes viral, and the earth tilts on its axis, dumping the most loosely connected to the planet to the Everglades.

"Most of your books have been nonfiction, and your most recent novel for adults, “Insane City,” was published 10 years ago. What moved you to write another novel?
I do mostly nonfiction, but every now and then I switch to fiction. I always have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my head
A while ago I wrote this book, a nonfiction book, called “Best. State. Ever.” To research it I went to all these tourist attractions, but not the big ones, the little roadside attractions. I went to this one, the Skunk Ape museum, and it just sort of stuck in my mind.
I was walking around out in the Everglades with this guy, Dave Shealey. He’s the guy who saw the Skunk Ape and is selling the T-shirts.
I just kept thinking about this whole society existing out in the Everglades with this mythical monster out there. It just kept bouncing around in my mind as something you could write a story about."
- from the Tampa Bay Times interview

Now, about that gold. Everyone who is aware of it wants it, and that consists of mostly terrible people.

Dave Barry weaves all these upstanding individuals together, or maybe just tosses them into a blender. You know they will all come together for a rousing climax. Barry does not disappoint.

Will the Interior Secretary manage a successful launch of the Florida Python Challenge? Hmmm, I wonder. Where will the gold end up? Will Jesse escape with Willa to some sort of sane life? Will Slater become famous for his bod? Will the Bait & Beer make a killing selling tourist crap? Will sundry extreme criminals come to bad ends?

If you are looking for anything serious here, you are in the wrong swamp. If, however, you enjoy laughing until it hurts, this might just be the place for you. I lost count of the “LOL” notes in my Word file.

Slip on your bathing suit, slather on bug repellant, a LOT of bug repellant, take a few steps forward. The swamp water is cool and inviting. But if you see eyes looking back at you from the surface, you might want to step back up onto the the land, waaaay back, and make sure to look up, in case something large and hungry might be about to drop down on you from a Cypress tree.

Whether you take the opportunity to read Swamp Story near a beach, a pool, a comfy chair at home or in your favorite swamp, Dave Barry is one Florida Man you will want to spend some time with this summer.

"Ken Bortle was standing in the parking lot behind the Gallo Grande, waiting next to an overflowing dumpster baking in the late-afternoon Miami sun, emitting near-visible stench rays."

Review posted - 7/14/23

Publication date – 05/02/23

I received an ARE of Swamp Story from Simon & Schuster in return for a fair review, and a lead on some prime Florida real estate. Thanks, folks, and thanks to NetGalley for facilitating.