• Gumption

  • Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers
  • By: Nick Offerman
  • Narrated by: Nick Offerman
  • Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (5,667 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Gumption  By  cover art

Gumption

By: Nick Offerman
Narrated by: Nick Offerman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.25

Buy for $20.25

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The star of Parks and Recreation and author of the New York Times best seller Paddle Your Own Canoe returns with a second book that humorously highlights 21 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 21 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.

©2015 Nick Offerman (P)2015 Penguin Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about Gumption

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,678
  • 4 Stars
    1,227
  • 3 Stars
    429
  • 2 Stars
    185
  • 1 Stars
    148
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    4,401
  • 4 Stars
    494
  • 3 Stars
    184
  • 2 Stars
    61
  • 1 Stars
    64
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3,130
  • 4 Stars
    1,145
  • 3 Stars
    542
  • 2 Stars
    191
  • 1 Stars
    174

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Swagger and mirth

Nick Offerman sold me on this book when I read that it would feature Theodore Roosevelt, Carol Burnett and Jeff Tweedy. I like Offerman -- you know where you stand with guys like him, and you know where guys like him stand on issues.
Each chapter details the lives and heroism of its subjects. Offerman makes strong cases for each person he picked, and uses their gumption as a springboard for his own views on politics, religion, comedy, the environment, and a host of other issues.

Offerman is likable and his main points -- that we need to be people of courage and kindness -- are timely and poignant.
What I didn't like about the book is that Offerman takes the opportunity in nearly every chapter to lay out his case about the same few topics. Certain types of religious folks, especially evangelical Christians, are the subject of many of these rants. The other thing that I struggled with is that his modern heroes are all his buddies or folks he already admired in some way. He wasn't moved by discovery very often, so the reader doesn't get the thrill of discovery with him. I agree with him that this type of book is "necessarily subjective," but the later chapters lack the freshness and enthusiasm as the earlier ones, simply because more research and discovery were involved.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

66 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Yawn

It's not as good as his first book. Very heavy on politics and religion, and sadly Mr. Offerman adheres to most of the Hollywood ideology.
While he tries to come across as middle of the road, he most definitely spouts off his hatred against anyone who believes in God and anyone who is conservative.
I honestly think he's still trying to figure out what he truly believes.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

63 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Seriously?

The book started off well, but quickly devolved from a book about 'people who had gumption' to 'I have a lot of famous friends, let me tell you about them.' If you practice any kind of religion, if you are white, or male, have ever owned a firearm, or are anywhere near conservative in your beliefs, prepare to be shamed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

60 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Too much lecturing

Many of the other reviews have said the same: the beginning of the book is interesting, telling stories of Americans with gumption with humor. But then the book devolves into Mr Offerman lecturing the reader/listener. If you agree with his opinions (which I often did) his relentless lecturing gets boring and oppressive, and if you do not agree (which I did on other subjects), then he certainly comes off as uninformed and wildly arrogant. The stories stop being about Americans with real gumption but turn into platforms for Mr. Offerman's opinions.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

loved his other books, skip this one

I'm a fan of the author. I have enjoyed his other works. However I was not a fan of this one. just too much mixing of subjective opinions and occasional facts. I prefer either opinions or facts. not both.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Started out good but faded quickly

The first few chapters were fascinating and very well done. However the rest of the chapters devolved into sarcastic and left leaning political commentary. I couldn’t make it through the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Buy it and listen, or buy it and don't. I recommend the former.

Funny, informative, and at times, thought provoking. I love the comedy of Nick Offerman, and I could listen to him tell stories until he falls over with exhaustion.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining, but Offerman loses his way

Gumption is humorous. Not uproarious nor silly, neither cerebral nor aloof, the book is exactly what you'd expect from a self-aware, but decidedly out of touch celebrity.

Offerman is an entertaining writer, but he struggles to balance the character he has created for himself and the man behind his mask. In speaking of his character, I'm not referring to Ron Swanson, his famous alter-ego from "Parks & Recreation." Offerman has carefully crafted a character he portrays in public for television interviews and public appearances; he's a rugged individualist who prides himself on labor, craftsmanship and (somehow related) independent thought. He lauds such attributes in characters from America's past and some of his contemporaries.

It is when he gets to contemporary figures where he loses the plot. I love Conan O'Brien and find him to be a quite humorous man; I likewise think Wilco is brilliant. I can't, however, imagine a scenario where there accomplishments would be stacked up against America's "gutsiest troublemakers" like George Washington, Benjamin Franklin James Madison and Elenor Roosevelt. The gravitas of the opening chapters so greatly overshadows the relative lightweights of the closing cast of characters as to render the overall point of the book almost nullified. Too bad. It starts great, but ends weak.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

It was just ok

I love Nick Offerman. He and I agree on a ton of things, but this book just isn't one of them. It was well written and listening to him made it ok, but it just felt a little too preachy for my taste.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Very liberal

I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately he seems to be stereo typical Hollywood liberal. Stating very many opinion that have very little facts to support then. Corporations are evil, GMO's, hydraulic fracturing, cars, technology, USA are all evil. It seems to me he wishes that the country in the world would stay in the 1900s and have stopped evolving since then. His writings on World War II are downright juvenile. Overall there are some very interesting characters that I hadn't know the ton about before hand. Unfortunately his spouting
made me want to constantly turn this audiobook off.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful