Kabuki, Breakdancing, and Woodworking: Nick Offerman’s “Paddle Your Own Canoe” Reviewed

Paddle Your Own Canoe, One Man’s Fundamentals for Delicious Living by Nick Offerman Dutton; 352 p. If you like Parks and Recreation then you probably dig Ron Swanson. Like a lot. Because everyone on that show’s great but Swanson is clearly the hero. So I’m sure we were all psyched to discover that Ron Swanson, or the talented actor playing him, Nick Offerman, was coming out with a memoir. I mean what could be better? Having now delved into Offerman’s […]

Continue Reading

The Life of an Expert Listener: “Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove” Reviewed

Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman Grand Central Publishing; 288 p. Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is thinking. A lot. That’s the takeaway from the Roots’ drummer/music producer’s memoir Mo’ Meta Blues; that’s what he wants you to know. Co-written with The New Yorker’s Ben Greenman, the book is a telling of Questlove’s story from childhood to these very Jimmy Fallon days, chronicling his affair with music from the tender toddler ages onwards. Instead of […]

Continue Reading