Swamp Story is a Funny and Fast Moving Tale

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Dave Barry, author of Swamp Story, is “A wildly popular syndicated columnist best known for his booger jokes; Barry won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.” (from Swamp Story “About the Author”) His much anticipated annual Year In Review is a must read in our household. What Carolyn Chute did for Maine Gothic and Flannery O’Connor did for Southern Gothic, Dave Barry is doing for Florida Gothic.

Swamp Story is a funny and fast moving tale teeming with bad guys, a few good people, Everglades swamps and sinkholes, a 14’ gator, a 16’ python, a wild boar, a politician and an attorney, both morally bankrupt, a mom dreaming of her escape from her feckless baby daddy and his cohorts, ATV chases, gleaming gold bars, hidden treasure, get rich quick schemes, crazy viral internet stories, and the usual suspects struggling to survive in the hot, humid Sunshine State. 

Barry brings the disparate plots and characters together in a climactic swamp side scene at the state sponsored announcement of the annual Python Hunt, where the crowd grows exponentially when events take an unexpected turn, videos are uploaded,  and a local news helicopter swarms overhead. Barry ties up the loose ends most satisfactorily.  

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