I am trying to use tcpdump to display the content of tcp packets flowing on my network. I have something like:
tcpdump -i wlan0 -l -A
The -A op
There are many options that you can explore to sniff packets.
Wireshark is the most useful sniffer and its available for free for all platforms. It has a feature rich GUI which will help you sniff packets and analyze protocols. It has many filters so that you can filter out unwanted packets and only look at packets that you are interested in. Check out their webpage at: available for download for Windows and OS X
To dowload for Linux distros check out this link
If you prefer an alternate solution more on the lines of tcpdump you can also explore tcpflow which is definitely a good option to analyze packets. It also provides you an option to store the files for later analysis. Check this link: tcpflow
Another option is Justsniffer
Which probably best addresses your problem and provides you with text mode logging and is customizable.