Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside

Nick Offerman

Oct 2021 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

A humorous and rousing set of literal and figurative sojourns as well as a mission statement about comprehending, protecting, and truly experiencing the outdoors, fueled by three journeys undertaken by actor, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman has always felt a particular affection for the Land of the Free—not just for the people and their purported ideals but to the actual land itself: the bedrock, the topsoil, and everything in between that generates the health of your local watershed. In his new book, Nick takes a humorous, inspiring, and elucidating trip to America's trails, farms, and frontier to examine the people who inhabit the land, what that has meant to them and us, and to the land itself, both historically and currently.  

In 2018, Wendell Berry posed a question to Nick, a query that planted the seed of this book, sending Nick on two memorable journeys with pals—a hiking trip to Glacier National Park with his friends Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders, as well as an extended visit to his friend James Rebanks, the author of The Shepherd's Life and English Pastoral. He followed that up with an excursion that could only have come about in 2020—Nick and his wife, Megan Mullally, bought an Airstream trailer to drive across (several of) the United States. These three quests inspired some “deep-ish" thinking from Nick, about the history and philosophy of our relationship with nature in our national parks, in our farming, and in our backyards; what we mean when we talk about conservation; and the importance of outdoor recreation, all subjects very close to Nick's heart. 

With witty, heartwarming stories and a keen insight into the human problems we all confront, this is both a ramble through and celebration of the land we all love.

Ratings and reviews

I really enjoyed reading portions of this book but soon came to realize it had too much political angst and agony for my taste. I get it, the author can't stand Trump and his loyal army of ignorant goons. I would not even try to defend the notion he was and is a terrible example of a human and should have never been elected to office. While way too many lives were lost due to his poor decision making during the pandemic, its sad that equally poor government and lack of institutional control occurred during the previous administration when they sat on their hands enabling the opioid crisis. Instead of cherry picking death statistics to make a point try looking at the big picture and realize there's equivalent amounts of greedy self serving monsters from each party committing crimes on both sides of the aisle. If the author had stayed with offering elegant descriptions of the beauty and wonder of nature and left out his zero value political rants this would have been a great book.

really enjoyed this. Super relevant to issues in the US today. With some good stories mixed in.

Decent stories, but very "preachy" at times.

About the author

Nick Offerman is the New York Times bestselling author of Paddle Your Own Canoe: One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living, Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America's Gutsiest Troublemakers, and Good Clean Fun: Misadventures in Sawdust at Offerman Woodshop, as well as co-author of The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, with his wife, Megan Mullally. Offerman is the narrator for the audiobook of Wendell Berry’s latest, The Need to Be Whole, and co-stars in Episode 3 of The Last of Us. Nick and Megan live in Los Angeles, California, with their pups and a fairly decent collection of assorted wood clamps.