Nick Offerman has released four semi-autobiographical publications:

• Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living (2013)
• Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers (2015)
• Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop (2016)
• Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside (2021).

Gumption is a humorous, philosophical look at some of the people who have inspired Nick over his lifetime. For example, as a young man he was a huge fan of the film Billy Jack (1971) — and its creator / star Tom Laughlin. He attended Tom’s funeral in 2013 and spent time with the family.

While focused on personal heroes, Nick finds time to expound upon many of his favorite topics such as religion, politics, woodworking, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat.

21 profiles of America’s gutsiest troublemakers

1. George Washington
2. Benjamin Franklin
3. James Madison
4. Frederick Douglass

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

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