I was surprised by this book. I was expecting an up front humour of the human condition.
What I got instead was a thoughtful look at our mixed up, crazy, complicated and nuanced world.
The primary point of the book is to explore how we cannot continue living, as a society, the way that we have. This will ruffle many feathers. But feathers must be ruffled to create lift and move us forward.
Wow! That metaphor was a stretch, eh?
The book is broken into three parts, a hike with some friends, time spent on an English sheep farm (or is it a ranch?), and a cross-country camping trip with his wife.
Through these experiences Offerman offers insight into how so many people are getting things right, by respecting the land and the ecology. How others are fixing the errors of the past. How he was inspired, and in turn trying to inspire others to do better.
I was reminded of Bill Bryson's excellent book A Walk in the Woods. Both authors have a mastery of the English language. Bryson's used with his excellent dry wit. Offerman wrestles the language to the ground and bends it to his will. He is a muscular linguist.
I was lucky to have enjoyed the stories in audio book format. Nick Offerman reading his own work was a sublime experience.
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