I attended the book signing for Swamp Monsters: Trump vs. DeSantis―the Greatest Show on Earth (or at Least in Florida) by Matt Dixon at Tampa’s Oxford Exchange near downtown Tampa last week. It was my first time meeting Matt Dixon, who now works at NBC News and previously worked for POLITICO Florida in Tallahassee covering DeSantis and Florida’s government. Dixon is now a national politics reporter and is among a number of other reporters from Florida who previously covered the Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and have been promoted to cover national politics.

I read the book in about a week, which is much quicker than I normally finish a book. The book is filled with details and accounts about the rise of Ron DeSantis from being an unknown man to Florida Governor or “America’s Governor” as he is frequently called by conservative media and in the book. The book highlights how DeSantis centered Florida in the national conversation and benefitted from Trump’s support and endorsement and from clashing with endless culture wars.

I personally covered DeSantis while working as a freelancer for Patch News over the last 4 years and especially during the pandemic during my daily newsletter for Patch in Tampa, Orlando, and Miami. It was almost impossible not to cover the governor as he held events and frequently waded into political debates in all the major cities around Florida and openly battled with school officials, health officials, hospitals and of course, Disney.

Swamp Monsters credits DeSantis and his culture wars for helping the rise of the governor, but does not dive into the wars too much, which I think would have been quite interesting to read about. Instead the book tends to skim over these parts, to try and get to the part where DeSantis ends up the crosshairs and wrath of former President Donald Trump before ending .

Dixon does a good job of analyzing the Trump world and DeSantis orbit, as well as how DeSantis has stepped on and used Trump to try and rise politically with a number of stories really driving the point home. Since the content is still fresh, Dixon does not provide as much sourcing though besides lobbyists and former staffers.

The book would be strengthened if Dixon could get either DeSantis or Trump to speak to him and actually speak about their experience with each other, but it is probably too soon to get them to speak about each other besides Trump’s public bashing of DeSantis at rallies and on television. When Dixon includes a story about meeting Roger Stone, I found that anecdote compelling.

One major focus highlight in the book is how unlikable and awkward DeSantis is around people. Dixon quotes several sources from different circles who all feel that DeSantis is not really a people person and indeed, numerous outlets have credited that with the demise of the DeSantis 2024 campaign. Some political operatives are openly spiteful about the rise of DeSantis and find his stardom to be a false narrative. Dixon does mention the DeSantis has benefited from the early support of Fox News and conservative blogs, which ended around the time DeSantis started nosediving in the polls. The book does not speculate on the future for DeSantis since it ends while DeSantis is still running for President of the United States after several mishaps.

In true credit to the book’s topic, once DeSantis dropped out of the election last week DeSantis immediately got into a scuffle over a Florida politician attempting to pass a resolution helping Trump with his legal battles. DeSantis threatened to veto the bill and the bill was then withdrawn. So the battle continues. It is unclear what the future will be for DeSantis now in relation to Trump.

Overall, Swamp Monsters is a quick read and a good snapshot of a tumultuous time in Florida filled with shifting power. Dixon uses his background as a journalist to provide plenty of insight and know-how on how Florida has been trapped under two political stars. I would recommend the book to people who enjoy reading about politics and want to read the perspective a journalist from the outside looking in.

Rating: 4/5 stars