<DIV><b><i>Parks and Recreation</i> actor Nick Offerman shares his humorous fulminations on life, manliness, meat, and much more in his first book.</b><br><br> Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman?who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as <i>Parks and Recreation</i>’s Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking?he runs his own woodshop?<i>Paddle Your Own Canoe</i> features tales from Offerman’s childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois??I grew up literally in the middle of a cornfield”?to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally. It also offers hard-bitten battle strategies in the arenas of manliness, love, style, religion, woodworking, and outdoor recreation, among many other savory entrees.<br><br> A mix of amusing anecdotes, opinionated lessons and rants, sprinkled with offbeat gaiety, <i>Paddle Your Own Canoe</i> will not only tickle readers pink but may also rouse them to put down their smart phones, study a few sycamore leaves, and maybe even hand craft (and paddle) their own canoes.<br></div>