Swamp Story

A Novel

De: Dave Barry

Narrado por: Dave Barry

Pulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling author—and actual Florida Man—Dave Barry returns with a “hilariously funny” (Steve Martin) caper full of oddballs and more twists and turns than a snake slithering away from a gator.

Jesse Braddock is trapped in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and her ex-boyfriend, a wannabe reality TV star who turned out to be a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost treasure, which could solve all her problems—if she can figure out how to keep it. The problem is some very bad men are also looking for the treasure, and they know Jesse has it.

Meanwhile, Ken Bortle of Bortle Brothers Bait and Beer has hatched a scheme to lure tourists to his failing store by making viral videos of the “Everglades Melon Monster.” The Monster is, in fact, an unemployed alcoholic newspaperman named Phil wearing a Dora the Explorer costume head. Incredibly, this plan actually works, inspiring a horde of TikTokers to swarm into the swamp in search of the Monster at the same time villains are on the hunt for Jesse’s treasure. Amid this mayhem, a presidential hopeful arrives in the Everglades to start his campaign. Needless to say, it does not go as planned. In fact, nothing in this story goes as planned. This is, after all, Florida.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Dave Barry. All rights reserved. (P)2023 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Just what I needed —-

A silly Lil Abner-style-escape. That is, if Lil Abner lived in So Fla and not in mid century Sunday comics.

Funny and engaging

I saw Dave Barry’s interview on Sunday Morning and figured what the heck “I’ll get this audio book” and I’m glad I did. It kept my attention and gave me a few chuckles on the way to and from work.

It Twisted My “Mellon”, Man

Barry’s humour is as natural as ever and never comes off ham fisted. The novel had a great pace overall and the entire cast of characters made me smile chapter after chapter. Glory be to all the Glades men that inspired this highly entertaining romp.

Ridiculousness at its finest!

I stumbled upon this when I needed something to read and it was available. I got
it from the library. I loved it so I bought it on Audible. While Dave doesn't do different voices (which is a pet peeve of mine) I feel like his tone is perfect for the book, also he clarifies who is speaking so even without a specific voice for that person it is obvious who is talking. This story is ridiculous, but as is mentioned in the book a few times, "it is Florida". So the book is explaining why it is such a ridiculous story. Also the story is clearly poking fun at social media and how things become viral and sensations. The story is crazy and I love it. I will listen to it again knowing what is going to happen. I will get mad at the jerks, cry at the sweet moments, laugh at the funny bits, and rejoice when good things happen. It is a fun read!!

A lot of fun!

It was a ridiculous story with some ridiculous characters but very funny and engaging. It kept me listening from start to finish and was very entertaining.

Fun listen

Fun book. Classic craziness of Florida. Funny, humorous, well written. Thumbs up. I gave it 5 stars

Hilarious and great story

This book was hilarious. Light and well written as always. Loved that Dave read the book too!

Entertaining

A very strange journey but also a captivating and enjoyable story that brought to mind some south Floridians I know personally :-o

Characters

It’s hysterical. Laugh out loud funny. With moments of serious commentary on the impact of social media and celebrity on society

A hilarious chaotic mess

We listened on our roadtrip across the country-sorry Florida not included. An entertaining caper with many laugh-out-loud moments for us.