Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Dutton Adult (2005), Hardcover, 240 pages
Description
This brilliant and uproarious bestseller is a phenomenon in its own right. A lavish compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia and sage wisdom, it is inexhaustibly entertaining. It is also completely unresearched, entirely undocumented and (therefore) totally untrue - a literary parody fabricated by the illuminating, prodigious imagination of John Hodgman - a certifiable genius. Hilarious...Nabokov's pale Fire as directed by Wes Anderson.' - Time Out New York 'Wonderfully absurd.' - New York Times'
User reviews
LibraryThing member mstrust
Hodgman is a regular on The Daily Show so that sold me first of all. This book is a collection of things Hodgman "knows", such as a broken glass filled snowball is called "The College Boy" and that a secret to successful business negotiations include showing the other party that you have a gun.
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There is an extensive chapter on the history of hobos (my pick of the available hobo names is Ol' Barb Stab-You-Quick) and an interesting give and take the author witnessed between a Christian lecturer and a member of The Church of Satan. Show Less
LibraryThing member marck
The thing that makes "fact"-filled books like this work so well is that the reader recognizes something in Hodgman: even if he is talking out his ass a lot of the time, that is one extremely intelligent tuckus. The only way a tome like this works is if the creator has both the ability to let brain
Of course, one also needs the sticktuitiveness to follow through on a concept to its end, whether that end ends up proving his genius or becoming painfully laborious. No better example can I point to than the chapter on hoboes, the centerpiece being a list of 700 hobo names. (I hear the audiobook version of the hobo list is especially wonderful, and so to try to replicate it, I read much of that list out loud. Don't worry, my wife was fast asleep.)
Truth be told, this book works best as the damned funniest bathroom reader I've ever come across. Though I read most of it in bed (and can speak, by the way, to its utter lack of aphrodisiac qualities), I believe I just might leave a copy of this in the guest bathroom. Of course, I'll have to drill a hole through it for the titanium chain that will attach it to the water pipes.
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synapses stray into bizarre directions AND he is already brilliant.Of course, one also needs the sticktuitiveness to follow through on a concept to its end, whether that end ends up proving his genius or becoming painfully laborious. No better example can I point to than the chapter on hoboes, the centerpiece being a list of 700 hobo names. (I hear the audiobook version of the hobo list is especially wonderful, and so to try to replicate it, I read much of that list out loud. Don't worry, my wife was fast asleep.)
Truth be told, this book works best as the damned funniest bathroom reader I've ever come across. Though I read most of it in bed (and can speak, by the way, to its utter lack of aphrodisiac qualities), I believe I just might leave a copy of this in the guest bathroom. Of course, I'll have to drill a hole through it for the titanium chain that will attach it to the water pipes.
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LibraryThing member cossy
very bizarre and funny. a few moments of laugh out loud material, but mostly just a very amusing read.
LibraryThing member SatansParakeet
The best book of made up facts ever published! It helps that Mr. Hodgman realizes and acknowledges that his facts are made up, for most other books of made up facts do not. There is something amazingly giggle-inducing about the manner in which the mythical city of Chicago and our only hobo
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Secretary of the Treasury are related. I recommend it for all readers of the English language. Show Less
LibraryThing member trinityofone
A humorous fake almanac. I was kind of disappointed by this, actually. It's certainly bizarre and quirky, and there were definitely moments that made me smile, but all and all it was just...much less funny than I thought it was going to be. Hodgman's humor is *very* dry; maybe I just picked this up
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when I wasn't quite in the right state of mind for dry. Will possibly try again later—the hoboes will still be there, of course, planning their revolution. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lexicographer
I don't usually pick up books of humour, because I often don't find them funny. I tend more toward clever in print than I do in other media. But Daily Show expert Hodgman has such a brilliantly skewed way of seeing things, that I couldn't resist. It didn't all work for me, but the majority of it
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did. Most of all, it reminded me of my long-standing awe and envy for comedians. Show Less
LibraryThing member kaelirenee
I am in love with The Daily Show, so when I saw that one of their "reporters" wrote a book, I had to read it. I like Hodgman's presentation on the show, so I decided to listen to the audio version of the book. This was a mistake. Hodgman works well as the straight man, but he needs someone to play
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against, to mirror his over-the-top button-down appearance. This is lacking in his book. The idea is very clever-present all the information one could ever need, regardless of whether or not it's true. It's Wikipedia with a better editor, I thought. However, it wasn't funny at all. The oral presentation of the tables, guest readers, and other gimmicks throughout were simply annoying. I'm not sure if the print version is any better and I am loathe to check it out to find out. Show Less
LibraryThing member melannen
This is an almanac of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE. It will replace all other books on your shelves (by secretly overwriting their text with its own.)
It is an essential reference for anyone who is curious about different types of squirrels, American utopian communities, or the mysterious hidden state
No reader of this book should miss e-hobo.com , at which a group of noted hobo artists have taken it upon themselves to create historically accurate portraits recording for posterity all 700 named hoboes in this book.
Also, aid me in combating the dire calumny being perpetuated by the catalogers of our great nation's libraries (in league with the Secret World Government of Yale University), who insist on classifying it under 800 (dewey) or PR(library of congress) as fiction, instead of 001 (knowledge) and AY (almanacs) where it self-evidently belongs.
It is an essential reference for anyone who is curious about different types of squirrels, American utopian communities, or the mysterious hidden state
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of Hohoq; is is particularly necessary for anyone creating a bibliography of reference works related to the great nation of Uqbar. The detailed Werewolf Transformation Timetables are also greatly recommended for all werewolf-hunters, as the most accuate of their kind currently in publication.No reader of this book should miss e-hobo.com , at which a group of noted hobo artists have taken it upon themselves to create historically accurate portraits recording for posterity all 700 named hoboes in this book.
Also, aid me in combating the dire calumny being perpetuated by the catalogers of our great nation's libraries (in league with the Secret World Government of Yale University), who insist on classifying it under 800 (dewey) or PR(library of congress) as fiction, instead of 001 (knowledge) and AY (almanacs) where it self-evidently belongs.
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LibraryThing member KApplebaum
A good read for when you're feeling silly.
LibraryThing member multiplexer
Without this fine book, I would have no knowledge of the breadth and depth of hobo names. Nor would I know of the missing 51st state of the United States. This book is my guide through daily living.
LibraryThing member Mr.Durick
I don't suppose I need to add a review, but I want to urge this smart wordplay along. An author could have fun writing a book like this, and I hope that Hodgman did. It was fun to read; I read it in sequence on two evenings. The dead pan inventiveness kept it rolling for me and will get me to buy
This book should be on the bookshelf of everybody who reads fictional non-fiction.
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the sequels as they come out in later printings of trade paperback editions.This book should be on the bookshelf of everybody who reads fictional non-fiction.
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LibraryThing member miriamparker
Between the hobo names and the analysis of literature, this is one funny and eternally surprising book that you can go back to when you need a laugh.
LibraryThing member JohnMunsch
Well worth getting the audiobook version so you can hear it read by Hodgman.
LibraryThing member markarayner
I learned several important things from [book:The Areas of My Expertise]:* it is possible to sell a book of total nonsense* one can put a funny spin on The Great Depression* I should be more suspicious of the large black squirrel population in my home town.I was mildly disappointed that there
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wasn't more about pirates in this thing encyclopedia of total world knowledge. Apart from that, I would say that this is not a book to be missed. Show Less
LibraryThing member markarayner
I learned several important things from [book:The Areas of My Expertise]:* it is possible to sell a book of total nonsense* one can put a funny spin on The Great Depression* I should be more suspicious of the large black squirrel population in my home town.I was mildly disappointed that there
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wasn't more about pirates in this thing encyclopedia of total world knowledge. Apart from that, I would say that this is not a book to be missed. Show Less
LibraryThing member markarayner
I learned several important things from [book:The Areas of My Expertise]:* it is possible to sell a book of total nonsense* one can put a funny spin on The Great Depression* I should be more suspicious of the large black squirrel population in my home town.I was mildly disappointed that there
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wasn't more about pirates in this thing encyclopedia of total world knowledge. Apart from that, I would say that this is not a book to be missed. Show Less
LibraryThing member dvf1976
I wanted to like this book, but it was just *too* absurd.
LibraryThing member rcampoamor
This is absolutely one of funniest things that I have read recently. If you like the humor on the Daily Show, you'll love this book -- in fact, John Hodgman periodically does guest reports on the Daily Show.
LibraryThing member Murphy-Jacobs
Not nearly as funny as I'd have liked it to be. My sense of humor grows impatient with maundering on such things as fuzzy lobsters.
LibraryThing member librarybrandy
This compendium of invented facts is funny, mostly, though a little wearing on the nerves. Hodgman reads in his usual deadpan, which I enjoy, and his reading is musically punctuated by the book's Official Troubadour, Jonathan Coulton. I am glad to report that Hodgman's reading skips over the list
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of 700 hobo names (that might be at the very end; Hodgman just told me the book ended, but there's another hour of the file--haven't listened to it yet to know what it is). If I'm really curious about the hobo names, though, I'll refer back to the 2006 Best American Non-Required Reading, where the list was reproduced in full. Show Less
LibraryThing member bkleinwort
hilarious! Two owls hoot, who!
LibraryThing member devdev365
To me, surprisingly reminiscent of Calvino and Perec -- Hodgman shares those authors' devotion to cataloging the absurd or magical details of life, as well as the imagination needed to fabricate them.
Writers, take note of Hodgman's "failed palindromes," and please do not use them!
Writers, take note of Hodgman's "failed palindromes," and please do not use them!
LibraryThing member shabacus
A fun book! Hodgman is at his strongest when he finds the humorous in history, managing to turn the mundane into the magical, and the magical into the otherworldly. There is a lot of that in this book. But there are also tedious sections as well, entire passages that are ponderous in tempo and just
It is encouraging that the book actually got more interesting as it went along. The sections on hobo history, other secret histories, and the states were particularly good. There are interesting hints about the secret history of the mole men which, I'm sure, the future volumes will cover.
And I'll read them. I'm really hoping that the rest of them will seize on the good parts and set aside the bad.
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not all that funny.It is encouraging that the book actually got more interesting as it went along. The sections on hobo history, other secret histories, and the states were particularly good. There are interesting hints about the secret history of the mole men which, I'm sure, the future volumes will cover.
And I'll read them. I'm really hoping that the rest of them will seize on the good parts and set aside the bad.
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LibraryThing member melydia
I picked up this book because the cover was completely plastered with tiny text so ridiculous that I knew I needed it. This is more or less a book of trivia - trivia that is entirely composed of lies. And a weird obsession with hobos. It probably would be better read a little bit at a time rather
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than straight through like I did, but there were certainly some very funny tidbits of random. I think I was most amazed at the fact that pretty much every single footnote, no matter how absurd, actually did refer to another section of the book. Including, for example, beard trends. Look, I don't know. If you think non sequiturs are funny, this is probably the book for you. Show Less
LibraryThing member hcubic
The full title of this book is "The Areas of My Expertise: Which Include Matters Historical, Matters Literary, Matters Cryptozoological, Hobo Matters, Food, Drink & Cheese (a kind of food), Squirrels and Lobsters & Eels, Haircuts, Utopia, What Will Happen in the Future, and Most Other Subjects". It
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is full of little-known and bizarre facts, all of which were fabricated. It is a sort of an almanac, with information that everyone needs. There is a lot about hoboes, including 700 hobo names and a compendium of hobo signs. Did you know that Yale enforces its will on the world via a capella singing groups? Or the essential differences between cat people and dog people? [Linus Pauling fed massive doses of vitamin C to his Schipperke, "Josef" and Daniel Boone devised forty-six ways of skinning cats (many still used today)] How about five jokes that have never produced laughter, or nine palindromes that aren't quite palindromes? [A man, a plan, a kind of man-made river, planned."] According to TAOME, a cesium-133 atom will oscillate between two hyperfine levels 16,546,737,186,000 times in half an hour. A compendium of fifty-five dramatic situations will provide the basis for any book that you might want to write. Several pages of potents and omens provide a guide for the future. Best of all, almost nothing in the book is true (except for the frequency of the cesium clock). It is all made up (by Mr. Hodgman, who is also "the PC guy" in the Apple commercials), and it is quite funny, in the sort of way that appeals mainly to the warped. I guess I qualify. Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Humor — 2007)
Language
Original publication date
2005-10-20
Physical description
5.9 inches