‘Riverman: An American Odyssey’

An adventurer's journey ends with an upturned canoe, but the story doesn't

Ben McGrath tells a story of one man's canoe adventure in "The Riverman: An American Odyssey." nullplus/Shutterstock

As a former reporter and editor for several newspapers in the Northern Virginia area, I was immediately drawn to Ben McGrath’s debut novel, “Riverman: An American Odyssey.” Mr. McGrath is a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker.

The stuff of stories is ever present, but often, sifting through fact, fiction, and rumor can be a challenge. Is this a story worth telling? Will it resonate with readers? Does it have heart? Fortunately for readers, Mr. McGrath has crafted an enthralling and often enchanting narrative that resonates on a variety of levels.

A Chance Encounter

Mr. McGrath first meets Dick Conant on Labor Day in 2014, after a neighbor called his attention to a scrubby red canoe tied to the seawall near their properties on the west bank of the Hudson River in Piermont, New York. For Mr. McGrath, Mr. Conant, a large man with ruddy cheeks, a hearty laugh, sporting overalls and muddy boots and who owned a canoe, was a larger-than-life presence and could have been Santa Claus arriving early via boat.