The Areas of My Expertise
by John Hodgman
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Book Reviews of The Areas of My Expertise
Book Review: Brilliant from start to finish
Summary: 5 Stars
I will try to be as unbiased as possible, but it should be known that John Hodgman cut my face with a broken bottle during a disagreement over whether one should be allowed to flip over any Scrabble tile and then consider it to be a "blank." He was down 754-30, and tensions were high. I take some responsibility for provoking Mr. Hodgman with sing-song nursery rhymes intended to raise questions about his virility and ancestry.
That said, this book is one of the best-conceived, fully realized humor tours de force I have ever read. Even parts that I thought would be tedious -- such as his guide to all fifty states, or the complete list of 700 hobo names -- turned out to be unrelentingly hilarious.
So I wear my scar proudly, John Hodgman, because I must admit after reading this book: It was doled out by the better man.
Book Review: Surprisingly funny!
Summary: 4 Stars
Though a little excessive at times (700 hobo names!?), TAoME is quite funny, frequently. Based on JH's work on the John Stuart Show, I might otherwise have expected as much. The reason I was pleasantly surprised to find myself chuckling a lot as I read TAoME is because of another relatively recent read: an anthology of humor pieces of McSweeny's magazine, to which JH had been a contributor. That book was quite possibly the unfunniest anthology of humorous writings I have ever read (quite possibly the only one, too). JH's humor, per his work on the John Stuart Show, is of the dry, wry, eggheaded sort. Generally not side-splitting, but pretty routinely side-shaking. I don't suppose I'll be rushing out to pick up JH's next book, but I probably will give it a read some day. Fun stuff!Book Review: Any book with 700 hobo names...
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the type of parching dry humor that can take me from giggle to full out laugh in a split second. Example:
From, "IDIOSYNCRASIES OF THE GREAT DETECTIVES"
- Miss Millicent McTeague: This elderly spinster is not as senile as she seems! Also, she eats cats.
...and
- Dr. Kathleen DiPietro: This brilliant forensic medical examiner occasionally wears the victims' skin in order to "see the crime through their eyes." This habit becomes something of a liability when she begins wearing the victims' skin to nightclubs and restaurants.
Hilarious. My friends and I rolled around reading the 700 hobo names aloud. Mr. Hodgman needs to come out with another book...please?
Book Review: Hodgman at his best
Summary: 5 Stars
John Hodgman has a very dry, archaic wit that lends itself well to the material presented in his book, a selection of conspiracies, falsified history and goofy blink-and-you'll-miss-them historical one-liners. Often the joke is what he's decided to include itself - lycanthropic timetables line every page, and the list of 700 hobo names (and a rich hobo history) is continuously inventive despite its formidable length.
It's a very wordy, full book to go through (much more so than the sequel), and completely suitable for fans of Hodgman's TV shtick and dry, deadpan McSweeney's sort of persona. I recommend it, if only for its innovative use of spine space.
Book Review: I felt a tingling sensation in my brain after reading this book...
Summary: 4 Stars
I felt a tingling sensation in my brain after reading this book...
But as the eminently wise Mr. Hodgman explains, this is a natural result of acquiring knowledge from his pamphlet tome. There are some psedu-truths that you won't find in any other book: The Hobo Wars of the 1930s, the 51st state (no, not Canada), the skinny on the Lochness Monster, among others. I just wouldn't recommend this book for those studying for the US immigration test. There may not be a single fact contained within it...but it contains a factiness far deeper than what mere facts can possibly impart. Stuff yer brain. Get this book! Let the man drop soome knowledge on y'all.