If there is ever a story that intrigues me, it's a river saga full of adventure. Tom Sawyer, Lewis and Clark, Odie, Albert, and Mose (from This Tender Land). There is just something about a cross-continental river that alights an epic.

Riverman has every bit of premise for such a tale: it's the story of a man in search for something different, something new, something a little bit closer to the heart of what this life is really about. It is a story of losing and finding, of stormy waters and calm sunsets. It's a story full of so much potential to go far and deep into the human desire for something big and epic. But, as much as this story possesses it also lacks.

What I loved about Riverman is Ben McGrath's journalistic precision to tell Dick Conant's story with care, but unfortunately that precision came at a detriment to the readability of the story. While the first half captured me with great ease, the muddied waters of the middle were hard for me to trudge through. McGrath did his best to give cultural and personal context for the river adventure Dick found himself on, but some of it felt a little overpacked into the middle -- throwing the plot canoe a little off balance.

Maybe it's the writing, or maybe it's just me having an inpatient moment with the nonfiction genre, but whatever the reason, it translated to the 3.5 (instead of 4) stars I've given it below. Nevertheless, Dick's story is one at the heart of what it means to be human, and his life is worth knowing.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to read this one and I would recommend to anyone who likes nonfiction stories in the vein of Into the Wild.

I've had the river bug for the last few years, loving spending time in and on them with my family. I really enjoyed this story! It's not my usual jam, normally I'm strictly fiction, but this was so wonderful. Thank you for sharing it with me!