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Gumption
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  • Published: 13 June 2016
  • ISBN: 9780451473011
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $39.99
Categories:

Gumption

Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers

Formats & editions
EBook
26 May 2015
Audiobook
26 May 2015
Paperback
13 June 2016
Hardback
23 Sept 2015
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The star of Parks and Recreation and author of Paddle Your Own Canoe returns with a second New York Times bestseller that humorously highlights twenty-one figures from our nation's history, from her inception to present day--Nick's personal pantheon of "great Americans."

The star of Parks and Recreation, co-host of Making It, and author of the New York Times bestseller Paddle Your Own Canoe returns with a second book that humorously highlights twenty-one figures from our nation’s history, from her inception to present day—Nick’s personal pantheon of “great Americans.”

To millions of people, Nick Offerman is America. Both Nick and his character, Ron Swanson, are known for their humor and patriotism in equal measure.

After the great success of his autobiography, Paddle Your Own Canoe, Offerman now focuses on the lives of those who inspired him. From George Washington to Willie Nelson, he describes twenty-one heroic figures and why they inspire in him such great meaning. He combines both serious history with lighthearted humor—comparing, say, Benjamin Franklin’s abstinence from daytime drinking to Nick’s own sage refusal to join his construction crew in getting plastered on the way to work. The subject matter also allows Offerman to expound upon his favorite topics, which readers love to hear—areas such as religion, politics, woodworking and handcrafting, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat. The book also features heroic yet humorous portraits by illustrator Ethan Nicolle, literally illuminating the twenty-one august figures.
  • Published: 13 June 2016
  • ISBN: 9780451473011
  • Imprint: Dutton
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 416
  • RRP: $39.99
Categories:

About the author

Nick Offerman

Actor, humorist, and woodworker Nick Offerman is the New York Times bestselling author of Paddle Your Own Canoe, Gumption, Good Clean Fun, and Where the Deer and the Antelope Play, as well as coauthor of The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, with his wife, Megan Mullally. His on-screen credits include the Emmy Award-winning role of Bill in The Last of Us (HBO), Ron Swanson in NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and cohost and executive producer of NBC’s Making It. In 2025, Nick will be featured in Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Death by Lightning (Netflix), and as the voices of Papa Smurf’s brother Ken in the Smurfs movie, and Beef Tobin in the FOX animated series, The Great North. Nick and Megan live in Los Angeles, California, with their pups and a fairly decent collection of assorted wood clamps.
portrait photo of Nick Offerman

Also by Nick Offerman

Little Woodchucks
Where the Deer and the Antelope Play
All Rise
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
Good Clean Fun
Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living
Paddle Your Own Canoe
See all

Praise for Gumption

Praise for Paddle Your Own Canoe:
"[Offerman] explores his Paul Bunyan-like image with tongue-in-cheek lessons on manliness, complete with illustrations and advice . . . [and] hilarious anecdotes from his career." --Entertainment Weekly

"[T]hought-provoking, profane, and frequently hilarious." --Publishers Weekly

"Filled with advice on how to woo a woman, grill meat, and grow a perfect moustache, this book makes for perfect reading around the campfire." --Parade

"Just try to resist the myriad manly charms of . . . [Offerman's] memoir about woodworking, eating, acting, cultivating the perfect moustache, and seducing Megan Mullally." --Vulture.com

"Ron Swanson is a mustachioed, breakfast-food-loving, woodworking red-meat connoisseur. Nick Offerman is a mustachioed, breakfast-food-loving, woodworking red-meat connoisseur but, more important, also a real person--a grateful, gracious, bemused actor in love with his wife, Megan Mullally, and the earnest simplicity of his not-so-Hollywood existence. Not only does he recall his life, but he also offers chuckle-worthy anecdotes, diagrams, even a haiku (about--what else?--bratwurst) to help his readers find their own ways toward delicious living. Ron Swanson would be proud."--Booklist

"Offerman's funny advice book offers practical tips about living more successfully, with the sort of dry and laconic delivery that comes through in his role on Parks and Recreation."--Time Out New York

Praise for Paddle Your Own Canoe:
"[Offerman] explores his Paul Bunyan-like image with tongue-in-cheek lessons on manliness, complete with illustrations and advice . . . [and] hilarious anecdotes from his career." --Entertainment Weekly

"[T]hought-provoking, profane, and frequently hilarious." --Publishers Weekly

"Filled with advice on how to woo a woman, grill meat, and grow a perfect moustache, this book makes for perfect reading around the campfire." --Parade

"Just try to resist the myriad manly charms of . . . [Offerman's] memoir about woodworking, eating, acting, cultivating the perfect moustache, and seducing Megan Mullally." --Vulture.com

"Ron Swanson is a mustachioed, breakfast-food-loving, woodworking red-meat connoisseur. Nick Offerman is a mustachioed, breakfast-food-loving, woodworking red-meat connoisseur but, more important, also a real person--a grateful, gracious, bemused actor in love with his wife, Megan Mullally, and the earnest simplicity of his not-so-Hollywood existence. Not only does he recall his life, but he also offers chuckle-worthy anecdotes, diagrams, even a haiku (about--what else?--bratwurst) to help his readers find their own ways toward delicious living. Ron Swanson would be proud."--Booklist

"Offerman's funny advice book offers practical tips about living more successfully, with the sort of dry and laconic delivery that comes through in his role on Parks and Recreation."--Time Out New York