What do you think?
Rate this book
The Old Man and the Swamp: A True Story About My Weird Dad, a Bunch of Snakes, and One Ridiculous Road Trip
I have nothing against snakes, provided that they're hundreds of miles away from me. And I have nothing against my dad, given the same set of conditions.
In a fit of questionable judgment, consummate indoorsman John Sellers tags along on a journey to search for snakes with his eccentric, aging father--an obsessive fan of Bob Dylan, a giver of terrible gifts, a drinker of boxed wine, a minister- turned-heretic, and, most importantly, the self-designated guardian of the threatened copperbelly water snake.
The quest is their fumbling attempt to reconnect. Decades of bitterness, substance abuse, acrimonious divorce, and divergent opinions about personal hygiene have conspired to make the two estranged. Sellers has just begun to develop a new appreciation for the American wilderness, and all the slithering creatures that populate it, when his father's deteriorating health thwarts their mission and disturbs their tentative peace. Determined to finish what they started, he ventures back into the swamp-- alone, but more connected to his dad than ever.
With big-hearted humor and irreverence, The Old Man and the Swamp tells the story of a father who always lived on his own terms and the son who struggled to make sense of it all.
In a fit of questionable judgment, consummate indoorsman John Sellers tags along on a journey to search for snakes with his eccentric, aging father--an obsessive fan of Bob Dylan, a giver of terrible gifts, a drinker of boxed wine, a minister- turned-heretic, and, most importantly, the self-designated guardian of the threatened copperbelly water snake.
The quest is their fumbling attempt to reconnect. Decades of bitterness, substance abuse, acrimonious divorce, and divergent opinions about personal hygiene have conspired to make the two estranged. Sellers has just begun to develop a new appreciation for the American wilderness, and all the slithering creatures that populate it, when his father's deteriorating health thwarts their mission and disturbs their tentative peace. Determined to finish what they started, he ventures back into the swamp-- alone, but more connected to his dad than ever.
With big-hearted humor and irreverence, The Old Man and the Swamp tells the story of a father who always lived on his own terms and the son who struggled to make sense of it all.
208 pages, Paperback
First published May 3, 2011
1 person is currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
John Sellers
17 books16 followersJohn Sellers is the author of The Old Man and the Swamp (2011), Perfect From Now On (2007) and Arcade Fever (2001). He writes about television for The Wrap and interviews musicians for Spin magazine. He currently lives in Brooklyn.
Join me on Facebook!
Join me on Facebook!
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 8, 2011
I knew John Sellers in junior high and high school. Well, I thought I knew him. I also coincidentally knew his dad a little, when we both worked the same dead-end office job in Grand Rapids. It turns out that I didn't really know his dad at all, and I didn't know John (AKA "Sellers") as well as I thought.
The thing I could never figure out about Sellers was why he was so obsessed with fitting in, despite the fact that he was obviously a smart and imaginative individual who hardly needed the approval of the suburban brats who made up our class. Now I understand: Sellers' dad is weird. Yeah, yeah, I know, your dad is weird. One time he wore mismatched socks to the grocery store and he washes his car in the rain.
No. Listen to me. Your dad is Ward Cleaver compared to Sellers' dad. Sellers' dad routinely drinks a mix of instant coffee, powdered milk, Diet Coke and Carlo Rossi chablis. He once plunked down a home-grown zucchini on the gift table at a friend's wedding, accompanied by a hand written note that read, "Behold the fruits of the earth." He won't get a pacemaker implanted, despite a history of serious heart problems, because he thinks the medical establishment is after his money (of which he has none). He was also a very nurturing father, as long as you happened to be a snake, and not, say, one of his actual children.
This book is worth reading as a character study of Mark Ashley Sellers alone, but it's also full of fascinating tangents about the snakes that fill Mark's world and the pop culture obsessions that fill his son's. Often laugh-out-loud funny, it's also surprisingly touching as a heartfelt narrative of a son trying to figure out what the hell is going on inside his father's head (not to mention what the hell is lurking in a remote Midwestern swamp).
The thing I could never figure out about Sellers was why he was so obsessed with fitting in, despite the fact that he was obviously a smart and imaginative individual who hardly needed the approval of the suburban brats who made up our class. Now I understand: Sellers' dad is weird. Yeah, yeah, I know, your dad is weird. One time he wore mismatched socks to the grocery store and he washes his car in the rain.
No. Listen to me. Your dad is Ward Cleaver compared to Sellers' dad. Sellers' dad routinely drinks a mix of instant coffee, powdered milk, Diet Coke and Carlo Rossi chablis. He once plunked down a home-grown zucchini on the gift table at a friend's wedding, accompanied by a hand written note that read, "Behold the fruits of the earth." He won't get a pacemaker implanted, despite a history of serious heart problems, because he thinks the medical establishment is after his money (of which he has none). He was also a very nurturing father, as long as you happened to be a snake, and not, say, one of his actual children.
This book is worth reading as a character study of Mark Ashley Sellers alone, but it's also full of fascinating tangents about the snakes that fill Mark's world and the pop culture obsessions that fill his son's. Often laugh-out-loud funny, it's also surprisingly touching as a heartfelt narrative of a son trying to figure out what the hell is going on inside his father's head (not to mention what the hell is lurking in a remote Midwestern swamp).
August 3, 2012
John Sellers' autobiography The Old Man and the Swamp started out incredibly poignant and funny (reminiscent of David Sedaris' best stories, if Sedaris was straight, and a video-gaming couch potato). When Sellers keeps his focus on the shenanigans and non-parent-like foibles of his box-wine-swilling, Dylan-quoting, nature-espousing, ophidophilic (snake loving) father, it rings true and straddles a precarious balance of a son's simultaneous irritation and admiration for his paternal unit. About 2/3rds of the way through the book, when Sellers describes a road trip with his father to the swamplands of Michigan (!) (really) (ostensibly to glean greater insight into his father's raison d'etre) he loses his humorous focus, and the endeavor becomes whiny and one-note. (prompting this reader to, after reading of a dozen different ways to say "i hate the swamp!" to scream out "Dude, for the love of God, grow a pair, already! We get it! Stop being a ninny!!")
May 26, 2011
I can't stand snakes at all. I almost didn't enter this giveaway because of the cover but it looked just too darn funny to skip it! I can't wait to read it! I hope the cover is more of a cartoon cause if it's a real snake it'll creep me out. lol
As a resident of Southwest Michigan, I could have gone the REST of my life withOUT confirmation that the Michigan Rattler DOES exhist! And not only do I live in SW MI, we have a SWAMP on our property! I'm never leaving the house again!!! EVER!
As I read this I find myself laughing all the time and wondering, What the heck is wrong with his dad?! :O)
The more I read the more I wondered, What the heck is wrong with John Sellers?! Chasing snakes?! I do everything I can to avoid snakes! But upon finishing the book I realized he was only trying to understand his father better and spend some time with him.
We have copperbelly snakes on our property. A friend of ours ran one over in the driveway a week or two ago. He didn't see it.
I now know more about snakes than I would ever like to know. I also know of someone that has made a wheelchair so someone can go hunting in. Not so sure about swamps but I do know it can go into the woods.
*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.*
As a resident of Southwest Michigan, I could have gone the REST of my life withOUT confirmation that the Michigan Rattler DOES exhist! And not only do I live in SW MI, we have a SWAMP on our property! I'm never leaving the house again!!! EVER!
As I read this I find myself laughing all the time and wondering, What the heck is wrong with his dad?! :O)
The more I read the more I wondered, What the heck is wrong with John Sellers?! Chasing snakes?! I do everything I can to avoid snakes! But upon finishing the book I realized he was only trying to understand his father better and spend some time with him.
We have copperbelly snakes on our property. A friend of ours ran one over in the driveway a week or two ago. He didn't see it.
I now know more about snakes than I would ever like to know. I also know of someone that has made a wheelchair so someone can go hunting in. Not so sure about swamps but I do know it can go into the woods.
*I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.*
August 25, 2019
If you like David Sedaris' stories about his obstinate dad Lou, try this one.
May 28, 2011
This book was a Goodreads first read.
John Sellers, a man who describes himself as a "furniture potato" decides to accompany his father on a trip to the swamp to look for copperbelly snakes. Towards the end of the book he explains his motive as simply to get to understand his father, an eccentric, chain-smoking, holdover from the 60's. As their trip begins John recalls incidents from his youth that point out many of the disappointments in his father. Coming from a fairly well-to-do family, John's father started as a Lutheran minister and then ended up with three college degrees, as an occasional surveyor for the government looking for copper belly snakes and bringing in little to no money to support his family. John remembers how his family was so "different" from others, mainly because of his strange father. Through the trip with his father it seems John takes another kind of trip as well: a trip to the past to remember and if not forgive, than accept his dad, and a trip to the present where he accepts his father and comes to love him. Although the word love is never used in the book, it is this reader's interpretation that John comes to love his father and respect his father's love of nature.
In the beginning I enjoyed reading this book and then started to get annoyed that half way through the book they still had not arrived at their destination and I started thinking that the author was spending a little too much time recalling childhood incidents. But as their trip continued I could see a man whose attitude continued to change. Getting near the end of the book was like reading a "who-dunit". Are they going to find copper bellies, what will happen to John's father health-wise? It became more like reading fiction (a good thing) and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I recommend to this book, especially as a good Father's Day present for all of our fathers whom we have misunderstood because we never really took the time to get to know them.
John Sellers, a man who describes himself as a "furniture potato" decides to accompany his father on a trip to the swamp to look for copperbelly snakes. Towards the end of the book he explains his motive as simply to get to understand his father, an eccentric, chain-smoking, holdover from the 60's. As their trip begins John recalls incidents from his youth that point out many of the disappointments in his father. Coming from a fairly well-to-do family, John's father started as a Lutheran minister and then ended up with three college degrees, as an occasional surveyor for the government looking for copper belly snakes and bringing in little to no money to support his family. John remembers how his family was so "different" from others, mainly because of his strange father. Through the trip with his father it seems John takes another kind of trip as well: a trip to the past to remember and if not forgive, than accept his dad, and a trip to the present where he accepts his father and comes to love him. Although the word love is never used in the book, it is this reader's interpretation that John comes to love his father and respect his father's love of nature.
In the beginning I enjoyed reading this book and then started to get annoyed that half way through the book they still had not arrived at their destination and I started thinking that the author was spending a little too much time recalling childhood incidents. But as their trip continued I could see a man whose attitude continued to change. Getting near the end of the book was like reading a "who-dunit". Are they going to find copper bellies, what will happen to John's father health-wise? It became more like reading fiction (a good thing) and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
I recommend to this book, especially as a good Father's Day present for all of our fathers whom we have misunderstood because we never really took the time to get to know them.
June 9, 2011
ARC received through the Goodreads First Reads program.
I looked forward to reading The Old Man and the Swamp by John Sellers because I knew it was going to be funny. Oh boy, it was--in the wonderfully surreal way only a true story can be. The "True Story About My Weird Dad" subtitle doesn't begin to cover it. THe book isn't so much about the road trip Sellers takes with his father. The bits that cover the trip would only take up a few pages if they were all strung together. Instead, what we get is Sellers trying to make sense of his relationship with his father.
Mark Sellers is quite a character. He's defiantly odd (and that's not a typo, I do mean defiant, although "definite" works too). He doesn't trust the establishment in any form, despite working for The Man in a snake surveyor capacity. THe man loves snakes. At first glance, he appears to love them more than his children. However, as John sellers gives us the backstory on his dad and his childhood, a different picture begins to emerge. Mark may not ever win a father of the year award, but he loves his kids, and he shows it (albeit not in conventional ways). It's apparent he doesn't really know how to relate to his offspring, and vice versa, which is the basis of most of the wacky hijinks recounted in this volume. (I'm not giving examples of these. Seriously, just read the book, it's worth it). What's easier for Mark to love is snakes. They don't make any demands on them, and basically just want to be left alone. They're the reptilian soul-children of the elder Sellers.
I'd reccomend this one to readers who enjoy the travel memoirs of Bill Bryson (specifically A Walk in the Woods, and also for anyone who thinks their parents are weird--I have a feeling this book might shift their perspective a bit. It's a very quick and enjoyable read.
I looked forward to reading The Old Man and the Swamp by John Sellers because I knew it was going to be funny. Oh boy, it was--in the wonderfully surreal way only a true story can be. The "True Story About My Weird Dad" subtitle doesn't begin to cover it. THe book isn't so much about the road trip Sellers takes with his father. The bits that cover the trip would only take up a few pages if they were all strung together. Instead, what we get is Sellers trying to make sense of his relationship with his father.
Mark Sellers is quite a character. He's defiantly odd (and that's not a typo, I do mean defiant, although "definite" works too). He doesn't trust the establishment in any form, despite working for The Man in a snake surveyor capacity. THe man loves snakes. At first glance, he appears to love them more than his children. However, as John sellers gives us the backstory on his dad and his childhood, a different picture begins to emerge. Mark may not ever win a father of the year award, but he loves his kids, and he shows it (albeit not in conventional ways). It's apparent he doesn't really know how to relate to his offspring, and vice versa, which is the basis of most of the wacky hijinks recounted in this volume. (I'm not giving examples of these. Seriously, just read the book, it's worth it). What's easier for Mark to love is snakes. They don't make any demands on them, and basically just want to be left alone. They're the reptilian soul-children of the elder Sellers.
I'd reccomend this one to readers who enjoy the travel memoirs of Bill Bryson (specifically A Walk in the Woods, and also for anyone who thinks their parents are weird--I have a feeling this book might shift their perspective a bit. It's a very quick and enjoyable read.
May 22, 2011
I'd like to give it three-and-a-half stars: I liked it but I didn't love it, and not sure I would recommend it. I must temper my review with the knowledge that I have an advance copy and there are still mistakes, of which I found a few, which I find fun in it's own right. No, I think I had trouble with the book because I thought it was going to be about a road trip, and so at first I found the digressions slow and distracting. The third chapter was especially slow and convoluted, and I put the book down for a bit. But having moved on from there, his pattern of using events in the present as departures to talk about the past became more evident, the story settled in, and it came through for what it was: a story of a guy who found the courage to re-examine his past and rebuild a relationship. It ended up being a good story, and had some good humor mixed in too. And I did learn a lot about copper-belly snakes. :)
August 31, 2011
*Disclosure - I received a copy of this book for free from Goodreads First-Reads.*
I kept putting this one off because in between the time I entered the giveaway and the time I was notified that I won, events occurred such that I didn’t really feel up to reading about a guy reconnecting with his father at a time when his father’s health is declining. I really needn’t have worried. Sellers’ relationship with his dad is absolutely nothing like my relationship with my dad (As a daughter, I am grateful; as a reader, I am grateful in the other direction.). Sellers’ dad is…eccentric would be the polite term, but I really have to go with crazypants. And it is hilarious. While the book does manage to get in some touching moments, it’s mostly just outrageously funny. And as a bonus, I learned about snakes.
I kept putting this one off because in between the time I entered the giveaway and the time I was notified that I won, events occurred such that I didn’t really feel up to reading about a guy reconnecting with his father at a time when his father’s health is declining. I really needn’t have worried. Sellers’ relationship with his dad is absolutely nothing like my relationship with my dad (As a daughter, I am grateful; as a reader, I am grateful in the other direction.). Sellers’ dad is…eccentric would be the polite term, but I really have to go with crazypants. And it is hilarious. While the book does manage to get in some touching moments, it’s mostly just outrageously funny. And as a bonus, I learned about snakes.
March 16, 2012
pretty fluffy piece on author sellers trying to reconnect with his dad after divorce and frankly messed up childhood. the author became "famous" for his autobio/rock music book Perfect from Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life but in this swamp book he comes off to me and a rather lazy, very snivelly, not very curious son who comes back to michigan (from brooklyn) to be with his dad as his dad is getting in bad health. the snakes in question are copperbellies from upper midwest usa and threatened with extinction because of severe habitat destruction. john sellers is a writer for gq who doesn't like wading in swamp water. would have made a good article probably
May 23, 2011
I won this book in a giveaway, and I read it in roughly two days. All I really have to say is, I want to spend time with this guy's dad. He sounds awesome. The book itself is very well written, the characters are well defined, and the story is simple but great. I laughed out loud at least once for every page read, and finisehd the book with a smile on my face. Maybe it's not the most hard-hitting novel I have ever read, or even one of the best. But that doesn't matter. Not every book is going to be an instant classic. But this book is fun, and, more importantly, it was FUNNY. I am happy to have won it, and happy to have read it. I will definitely reccomend it to my friends and family. And I reccomend it to anyone who sat through this review.
November 3, 2011
Won this on First Reads Giveaway.. looking forward to reading it
This was a great book about a man and his father connecting during a trip. Not only is Sellers a good writer and funny as hell, his father is hilarious as well. All in all, this a heartfelt story about a man and his father trying to connect on an even playing ground and spending the type of quality time together that most of us wish we could.
I really liked this and have recommended it to others.
This was a great book about a man and his father connecting during a trip. Not only is Sellers a good writer and funny as hell, his father is hilarious as well. All in all, this a heartfelt story about a man and his father trying to connect on an even playing ground and spending the type of quality time together that most of us wish we could.
I really liked this and have recommended it to others.
June 17, 2011
Bummer : ( I chose this as my book club pick so I won't spout off my opinion too much. My big issue with this book was how negative the writer was about his father. Clearly his father wasn't perfect, neither is mine, or any other father I'm aware of. But his father loved him and made it clear that he loved him. I work with many kids whose father has nothing to do with them. I think John Sellers needs to give his dad a break.
April 27, 2011
If the go-to Father's Day book last year was "Sh*t My Dad Says," this year it is "The Old Man and the Swamp" by a country mile. Those gift books that get left around dustry? This won't be one of them, chances are you'll pass it on to more than one person. As my dad would say, it was a "hoot and a holler."
June 8, 2011
All in all it was an alright book, but I was expecting a lot more hilarity regarding his relationship with his dad, and a little less snake talk. Throughout the book he starts out on one story, and then shoots off on all these random tangents, finally coming back to the story he started with, and by the time you get there you can't really remember what the main story started out like.
June 16, 2012
John Sellers is a very funny writer. That's what made this book worth reading. If you are interested in swamps or snakes, well, there's not really a great deal here about that, so you might feel a little cheated. But if you like reading about odd, somewhat dysfunctional families or video games in the 70s and 80s, you might like this. I did.
December 27, 2013
I wanted to like this book since it featured MI where the author grew up. However, it was overly focused on the author's total aversion to the outdoors (mostly he's a big crybaby) with too many boring details of his childhood. If it were subjected to good editing, it could have been a decent short story of 25 pages.
February 11, 2014
A fine, funny little book. Sellers pulls off a pretty difficult trick, showing his fathers many eccentricities, making them funny, but without ever resorting to out and out mockery. The final third was quick affecting, and I snorted a few times at Sellers' descriptions of things he'd rather be doing then spending time outdoors.
August 26, 2013
This is a true story about the author, his growing up with his dad, who was a herpatologist, and them going on another snake finding mission. It was interesting but not something I would necessarily recommend.
June 26, 2012
I didn't find this book as "funny" as the review in Mother Jones (that lead me be purchase and read) said it was. However, I did find the introspection of the father-son relationship interesting; sometimes - like it or not - we become our fathers.
December 12, 2011
Very entertaining, especially to those of us who grew up in the 80s and/or had a difficult (crazy?) father. Even made me feel some empathy with snakes and vow to protect them when necessary! Recommended.
August 9, 2014
This is one of those books where not a whole lot of stuff happens--there's a lot of inner dialogue and memories. However, it made me laugh a few times and it took place in Hillsdale County (where I used to live) and I just enjoyed it.
November 9, 2014
Agree with some of the other reviewers that the narrator's tendency to whine, while part of the story, could get a little annoying at times. A sometimes funny and often sad book about the expectations we have of our parents and our inability to let things go
couldnt-get-into-it
September 25, 2016I read up to the point where he arrived back in Michigan to start the road trip, but just couldn't get past the constant dad-bashing. Granted, his childhood sounded pretty fucked up, but that's what therapists are for...
June 3, 2011
It was more about reconnecting with a dysfunctional Dad.... than a humorous road trip with father and son.I was a bit disappointed.
May 23, 2011
Another solid memoir from GR guy Sellers. Poignant and funny by equal turns and full of rich Michigan detail.
February 10, 2012
An easy, amusing read. Liked it.
January 16, 2013
Very funny; I worked with his mom.
April 23, 2013
Very funny and endearing. A fantastic true story about a father and son. I want to read more by this author.
August 28, 2019
Memoir of city folk John's attempt to reconnect with his snake-hunting elderly father in the swamps of Michigan. Humorous and eccentric.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews