“Exquisitely written and deeply reported, Riverman is a gem of a book. It contains everything: adventure, mystery, travelogue, and unforgettable characters. Most of all, it illuminates the wonderful curiosities of life.”
—David Grann, bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon
“A masterpiece of narrative nonfiction.”
—Booklist, starred review
“This quietly profound book belongs on the shelf next to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild”
— The New York Times
RIVERMAN
An American Odyssey
The riveting true story of Dick Conant, an American folk hero who, over the course of more than twenty years, canoed solo thousands of miles of American rivers — and then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
For decades, Dick Conant paddled the rivers of America, covering the Mississippi, Yellowstone, Ohio, Hudson, as well as innumerable smaller tributaries. These solo excursions were epic feats of planning, perseverance, and physical courage. At the same time, Conant collected people wherever he went, creating a vast network of friends and acquaintances who would forever remember this brilliant and charming man even after a single meeting.
Ben McGrath, a staff writer at The New Yorker, was one of those people. In 2014 he met Conant by chance just north of New York City as Conant paddled down the Hudson, headed for Florida. McGrath wrote a widely read article about their encounter, and when Conant's canoe washed up a few months later, without any sign of his body, McGrath set out to find the people whose lives Conant had touched--to capture a remarkable life lived far outside the staid confines of modern existence.
Riverman is a moving portrait of a complex and fascinating man who was as troubled as he was charismatic, who struggled with mental illness and self-doubt, and was ultimately unable to fashion a stable life for himself; who traveled alone and yet thrived on connection and brought countless people together in his wake. It is also a portrait of an America we rarely see: a nation of unconventional characters, small river towns, and long-forgotten waterways.
“Superb… a tenacious, entertaining feat of narrative nonfiction.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“A memorable and intoxicating exploration.”
—Kirkus, starred review
“This is a beautifully told and near-mythical tale of one man’s quest to find peace through communion with nature, and through perpetual motion. My heart was deeply stirred by Riverman, and by Ben McGrath’s brilliant, clear, and humane storytelling. This one will stay with me for a long time.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of City of Girls
“Riverman is as miraculous and hopeful as its protagonist, the Zelig of America’s waterways, Dick Conant. It’s a great book for people like me, who read Into the Wild but have shed our self-destructive wanderlust and settled into middle-age. This book will make you want to buy a canoe and spend less time on Instagram.”
—Emma Straub, bestselling author of All Adults Here
“So meticulous, so obsessive, that Conant comes to life on the page as vividly as any character in American literature.”
—William Finnegan, bestselling author of Pulitzer Prize winner Barbarian Days
About Ben McGrath
Ben McGrath is a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker. He lives outside New York City in a small town on the Hudson, with his wife and two children. This is his first book.