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The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman
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The Areas of My Expertise

by John Hodgman

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1,399312,184 (3.82)23
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Well worth getting the audiobook version so you can hear it read by Hodgman. ( )
JohnMunsch | Apr 10, 2009 |  
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 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. ( )
marck | Mar 29, 2009 |  
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. ( )
miriamparker | Mar 19, 2009 |  
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 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. ( )
rdurick | Dec 19, 2008 |  
A very funny book, best read in small doses, preferably in the bathroom, as to avoid raising the suspicions of any remaining hobos or the Secret World Government. ( )
bte101 | Nov 7, 2008 |  
Showing 1-5 of 31 (next | show all)
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Epigraph
The metaphysicians of Tlön are not looking for truth, nor even for an approximation of it; they are after a kind of amazement.

Poor Richard's Almanack, 1733 edition
It would take up too much space to enumerate in these prefatory remarks the valuable fund of knowledge to be found here. Suffice it to say, if you are seeking for information of the past, or of any of the facts of today, glance at the table of contents, or "Look within, you will find it."

The World of Wisdom, 1887
The plain Truth of the Matter is, I am excessive poor, and my Wife, good Woman, is, I tell her, excessive proud; she cannot bear, she says to sit spinning in her Shift of Tow, while I do nothing but gaze at the Stars; and has threatened more than once to burn all my Books and Rattling-Traps (as she calls my Instruments) if I do not make some Profitable Use of them for the good of my Family. The Printer has offer'd me some considerable share of the Profits, and I have thus begun to comply with my Dame's desire.

The Argentine National Poultry and Rabbit Inspector's Almanac of Facts and Fictions, 1946
Dedication
Offered this day with gratitude to KSF
First words
My name is John Hodgman. I am not using a pseudonym.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Book description

Amazon.com (ISBN 0525949089, Hardcover)

With his Daily Show appearances and his "I'm a PC" Apple ads, John Hodgman has only become more famous since the hardcover edition of his all-you-need compendium of facts, The Areas of My Expertise was released. He has also become smarter. To reflect this, the paperback edition of The Areas of My Expertise has been expanded to include 100 new hobo names and new, additional complete world knowledge. John Hodgman and his fur-hatted associate, Jonathan, have prepared an exclusive video for Amazon customers explaining the above.


Click here or on the image above to watch John Hodgman describe the only book you'll ever need.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:17 -0400)

(see all 3 descriptions)

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