Paddle Your Own Canoe

Nick Offerman narrating his own autobiography is awesome. It was an overall fun listen and I enjoy getting to know him more. I saw in other reviews some people are put off by how "preachy" he was but I just believe he is honest and genuine about his thoughts. I do share many of the same views as him. There are many nuggets in there that I believe in and live by. Kindness (don't be an ass or try not to be), conservation, everyone has freedom to do, say, and believe whatever but don't impose or harm others, etc. He has many fun stories about his life and dedicates a lot of his book on various individuals that have had a significant impact on his life. Since reading this book I have also been more inspired to try to learn or utilize more skills so I can create something. I do confess its not my strong point and likely why my career is not based on any creative or artistic metric but still something I want to try more of. I am currently working on my small garden and starting a worm farm! I do think Nick Offerman lives a delicious life and feel like mine is too! Just be the best human you can be and you should be satisfied.

I guess I was expecting more of a comedic memoir, like Tina Fey's, but this turns out to be a strange mix between liberal manifesto and mostly non-comedic memoir emphasizing that he is not the same person as his character Ron Swanson, with bits of comedy thrown in here and there but also odd sections of political and religious commentary and in one chapter a breakdown of which mind-altering drugs should be tried or avoided. The audiobook on Audible is read by the author himself, which probably makes it more entertaining than reading the text, but it still is a pretty mixed bundle of messages. Some of it was entertaining, some of it seemed irrelevant or overly preachy, and overall it wasn't particularly comedic for the most part. If you're a hard core Nick Offerman fan genuinely looking for details on how he got into show business, what he thinks about the separation of church and state, smartphones, and drugs or alcohol, or how crazy in love he is with his wife, then you'll probably enjoy this. Otherwise you'll probably find this a bit of an odd read with mixed results.

Nick Offerman is best known for playing Ron Swanson on Parks and Recreation. This is his first memoir where he muses about life, manliness, wood work and how to best grill meat. Find out about Offerman’s childhood in small town Minooka, Illinois, his love of the theatre, his love of wood work, his wife Megan Mullally and the deadpan comedic style that made him a star.

If you are a Parks and Recreation fan, and in particular a Ron Swanson fan, then this is the book for you. Just to be clear my favourite character is April. Most of Ron Swanson’s quirks and history are taken right out of Nick Offerman’s life so it is almost like learning about the history of the Pawnee Parks Department director.

I got the audiobook of this and I highly recommend you do the same as Offerman narrates this himself. So it feels like Ron Swanson is narrating the book and then you get that Swansonesque chuckle when he tells a joke or a funny story. Listening to Ron Swanson was the best part of the book and I was actually interested in Offerman’s life.

Paddle Your Own Canoe goes further than just talking about Offerman’s life; he also talks about his personal philosophies and what he considers to be the real makings of a man. There is a lot of talk about equality, treating everyone equal, no matter religion, sexuality and so on. It was really interesting to listen to him talk about respect and not being an asshole. I was really impressed with his views on life. not all of them, but he seemed like a really down to earth and stable guy.

When he talks about Megan Mullally is one of my favourite parts. The love he has for his wife and the respect he shows her is beautiful. He talks about their courtship and their marriage and it is all so wonderful I don’t think I could bare it if they ever separated. He is a little sleazy and even tells the reader to Google Megan Mullally’s breasts, but over all you can see how much he adores her.

I didn’t think I would enjoy reading a memoir of an actor, especially a comedian but I thought this was wonderful. I wonder if reading a memoir of a really amazing actor would be as good. This is light hearted, fascinating and surprising. I never thought Nick Offerman would have such a love for the theatre but now I want to see his deadpan style on the stage. Fans of the show or Offerman will love this; I’m not sure about everyone else.

This review originally appeared on my blog; literary-exploration.com/2013/11/07/book-review-paddle-your-own-canoe/