Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside
by Nick Offerman, Dutton, 2021, 352 pages
This book cover will take you to your independent bookseller.Ralph Waldo Emerson may have a cheeky younger brother–167 years younger. Nick Offerman has enlarged the American canon of walking essays as he hikes, farms, and road trips across the country in an Airstream trailer. These “walking” essays explore history, science, relationships, wilderness, agrarianism, family dynamics, and the divisive subjects that divide us. He writes with the thoughtful analysis of a reader, thinker, and dry humorist. Offerman travels with friends.
Hiking Where the Deer and Antelope Play
In part one, he hikes in Glacier National Park with famous buddies, writer George Saunders and musician Jeff Tweedy. The trio and their guide experience enough wilderness and risk to evoke awe and separation from the salesmanship of civilization. There’s also acknowledgment that the National Park formation didn’t just save land, it evicted those who depended upon and lived in harmony with the land, the people of the Blackfoot Nation.
Farming and Ranching With Offerman
In Part Two, Offerman digs into the challenge given to him by mentor and buddy, Wendell Berry, to explore the ideology of Aldo Leopold and agrarian values, rather than adhere to John Muir’s attraction to the wilderness that is separate from the places we inhabit. Hyperbolically and jocularly appreciative of ethically raised meat, he’s enamored by the writer/farmer James Rebank as he embeds in the family with their robust, capable, and unplugged lifestyle.
Airstreaming with Offerman and Megan Mullally
The Covid-19 pandemic inspires a socially isolated road trip in part three. His wife, Megan Mullally, joins him as they Airstream their way from campsites to family visits, and as they negotiate their California urban perspectives on the pandemic against a more rural, cultural experience with their Oklahoma and Illinois relatives who work on the front lines. Negotiations ensue.
Book Review Claims: Oh So American
Throughout the meandering travels and essay threads, Offerman displays his wit, love for books, science, history, and penchant for thoughtful analysis. He’s not a subject expert (he mistakenly refers to Luna Leopold as Aldo’s daughter, rather than son); he’s a humorist and essayist. His progressive ideas are adamant enough to straighten the back of conservative thinkers; he’s also a man in progress. Although much funnier than Emerson, Offerman embodies the advice from Self-Reliance: “Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today.” 'Where the Deer and the Antelope Play' exemplifies the founding ideals of the nation the Transcendentalists aspired to. Emerson would give Nick an approving pat on the head.
Amy Lou Jenkins is the award-winning author of Every Natural Fact. Contact her at AmyLouJenkins.com to forward review copies for consideration.
A version of this review previously appeared in a Sierra Club Publication.
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