Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers
Published by Penguin Random House Audio
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
The star of Parks and Recreation 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'll combine both serious history with light-hearted humor-comparing, say, George Washington's wooden teeth to his own experience as a woodworker. The subject matter will also allow Offerman to expound upon his favorite topics, which listeners love to hear-areas such as religion, politics, woodworking and handcrafting, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.
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Reviews for Gumption
123 ratings8 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." Teddy R. I enjoyed listening to Nick Offerman narrate his 21 chapter tribute to the people he designates as having gumption.GEORGE WASHINGTON 2 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 3 JAMES MADISON 4 FREDERICK DOUGLASS PART 2 IDEALISTS 5 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 6 FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED 7 ELEANOR ROOSEVELT 8 TOM LAUGHLIN 9 WENDELL BERRY 10 BARNEY FRANK 11 YOKO ONO 12 MICHAEL POLLAN PART 3 MAKERS 13 THOMAS LIE-NIELSEN 14 NAT BENJAMIN 15 GEORGE NAKASHIMA 16 CAROL BURNETT 17 JEFF TWEEDY 18 GEORGE SAUNDERS 19 LAURIE ANDERSON 20 WILLIE NELSON 21 CONAN O’BRIEN. I learned a bit about each of these folks and a lot more about the author whose opinions are delivered with a nice blend of common sense and wit.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Gumption, Offerman covers a hodge-podge group of "great Americans." He meanders from one to the other in a very conversational way, with all sorts of side notes and personal anecdotes. And, of course: meat, woodworking, politics, and manliness. Offerman includes a surprising number of women "great Americans," and it's not at all pandering.I haven't read Paddle Your Own Canoe, his autobiography, so I wasn't ready for the utter verbosity! He writes like someone with a thesaurus open at their elbow -- no, that's not right. He writes like someone who occasionally enjoys reading the thesaurus. Surprisingly not as annoying as it should be. RecommendationFans of any kind of American history; he doesn't contain himself to the usual "great Americans."FeelsLike a rambling one-sided conversation-cum-monologue, probably over a pint in a pub.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Offerman talks about his own personal selection of American heroes, starting with George Washington.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well written, entertaining and educational. It's nice to hear someone with a firm grasp of the English language. Nick is not afraid to use little used words.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was the first audiobook I've tried. It was lovely to be read an entire book by Nick Offerman himself, but I learned audio books aren't for me.
So many times I wanted to share nuggets of Offerman's wit or wisdom, but with an audiobook, that's harder to do. Also, the sheer number of books he references in his own--that reading list alone could keep me occupied for a year. But I'll have to get a physical copy and hope there's a bibliography of some sort...
It does have a few racier parts, but I really enjoyed his overall theme that tied each mini-biography together: work. Work hard. It's a message lost all too often these days. Reading Outliers last month and this one now was a good 1-2 combo punch of "get your ass in gear, Rowse."
As I said, I listened to this one, courtesy of my public library, but I'll be buying a copy to reference and mark up for myself. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grammatically and linguistically challenging yet an excellent educational mind fill
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5loved it!
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5very poor historical application to today
i didn't appreciate his humor