That Is All

I adored every word of the first volume in John Hodgman's Compendium of Complete World Knowledge, The Areas of My Expertise. The second volume, More Information Than You Require, was also very good, but fell a bit flat in comparison — though by all means still a thoroughly enjoyable book. This third and finally volume, appropriately titled That Is All, follows the same pattern. While it is very funny and engaging and fun to read, it didn't quite reach the same level that the first book did.

Some of the things that made More a bit less than I liked were a focus more on humorous essays and anecdotes, and less of the quirky fake trivia format of the prior book. That Is All remedies this problem by having a much better balance of content, show more but by now, I suppose it must simply be losing its novelty for me. I confess that I mostly skimmed the listing of the names of 700 Elder Gods, where I had closely read each of the 700 Hobos (and the additional 700 Hobos from the paperback edition) and then the 700 Mole-men. While I find the idea of the list of 700 names amusing and had previously found myself admiring Hodgman's ability to maintain variety in them, even with 2100 listed, I just couldn't find it in me to do it once again. I think it might also have to do with not really finding much appeal in the Elder Gods theme this time around.

The Elder Gods do play a large part in That Is All, which purports to be the last and final book of all knowledge before Ragnarok. The marginal feature "This Day in History" from More returns as "This Day in the End Times" and details events of the final year before Ragnarok itself occurs on 21 December 2012, and the contents of the main part of the book include tips on how to survive the Blood Wave and the best things to invest in for future currency.

But the End Times aren't the only focus of the book: since this is a complete compendium of world knowledge, Hodgman finally discusses sports (and not just hermit crab racing, the sport of the asthmatic man) and different types of wine. He also provides instructions for becoming a deranged millionaire and the benefits thereof, plus some final secrets and answers to pressing questions.

The deranged millionaire character is the driving narrator of the book, while in More, he was a minor television personality, and in Areas of My Expertise, he was a former literary agent. As with the previous books, the narrator's character (who is John Hodgman and yet is also a creation of his) influences and informs the content. In the case of That Is All, it means many digressions and tangents of an absurd nature. The deranged millionaire and the knowledge of the coming Ragnarok also gives many sections a frantic feel, with many uses of emphatic caps lock.

One of my favorite parts of the book is also a favorite from the second book, too — the contiguous page numbering and references with the previous volumes. This choice really drives home the idea that these books are all part of one unit, and I like the interconnectedness. In fact, this meta-awareness of the series as a series goes so far to explicitly state that you need to have the paperback editions on hand for some of the reference notes, because of the change in page numbering or edits in the text. I love the subtle pressure to acquire the paperback editions if you haven't already done so. In fact, this third book references the previous two far more heavily than the second did the first, which is very satisfying to me, and provides new reasons to read them, and new ways to look at them.

I happen to be a fan of Hodgman's writing, so I did very much enjoy That Is All, but the frantic nature of some of the early sections and the weird deranged and confused nature of some of the latter ones (all part of the meta-story, I should point out) made it a bit difficult for me to read. There's also the way that when you have such a perfect-for-me book as Areas of My Expertise, anything else would pale in comparison. It is definitely a great end to the series, and well worth any fan's time, but it shouldn't be read at all if you've not already read and enjoyed the previous two books, due to the heavy use of references, and the fact that it's more of the same. show less

I confess, I broke my own Rule of Reading Hodgman (laid out in my review of More Information Than You Require), and read this all in one go. Not a smart idea, since Hodgman Overload Syndrome set in about halfway through, and by the time I got to the 700 names of Ancient and Unlistable Ones, I wanted it to be over. Which worked out well, since much of the second half of the book is about the world ending.

Nonetheless, That is All continues and expands on Hodgman's two previous volumes (complete with continous pagination and footnotes), filling in gaps in the previous volumes by providing chapters on wine and sports (together), advice on being a deranged millionaire, some hints and tips for dealing with the coming end of the world, and, show more naturally "the many uses of urine and mayonnaise."

If you're a Hodgman fan, and enjoyed the previous two books, don't miss this one. That is all. show less

Four stars is how I rate the book in comparison to the previous two volumes of John Hodgman's compendium of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE (his caps). As it compares to the rest of my library it may be closer to 3.5, although part of that might be due to my stretching the book out for as long as possible and thus losing a bit of momentum. But overall this was a very funny book and I enjoyed reading it.

The overriding theme of the book is the supposed end of the world on December 21, 2012, to which Hodgman counts down at the top of each page with the heading "THIS DAY IN RAGNAROK". This feature, while read in brief glimpses as you digest the rest of the text, may require more attention than you expect in order to follow the narrative. Stephen show more King fans in particular may get a kick out of it though, depending on their level of tolerance for absurdist humour.

As Hodgman prepares for the end of the world as we know it, writing his book from his Park Slope Survival Brownstone, he discusses a miscellany of topics: wine and sports, travel, how to be a deranged millionaire, the return of the Ancient and Unspeakable Ones, the final secrets revealed, the End, and the Beginning, which describes how he became a former professional literary agent and thus embarked on the path to where he is today.

This selection of topics may seem quite grim, but if you're the sort who enjoys a good old-fashioned End of Days myth/legend, you may be amused. And the book is definitely not without lighter humour and wordplay. For example, here is an excerpt from the section on wine and sports that made me actually roar with laughter:

"In most cases, the CO2 is allowed to vent off the wine as it ferments. However, if it is allowed to ferment in an airtight bottle, the result is a natural carbonation that the French call SPARKLE FARTS."
(for those not familiar with French, "pétillant" is an adjective meaning "sparkling" or "bubbly", and "péter" means "to fart". I will never look at champagne the same way again.)

Other amusing sections less reliant on bilingual wordplay are his account of "British Zoo Etiquette," which is funny in a horrifying kind of way (Hodgman, please tell me that that did not actually happen), and the 700 Ancient and Unspeakable Ones. The list of 700 names is a tradition carried over from the previous two volumes, and this list is by far my favourite of the three. Plenty of nods to sci-fi, Internet pop culture, and general geekiness.

Besides humour, there is also creepy: exhibit A being "The Secret of the Unspecified Object", as chronicled in THIS DAY IN RAGNAROK. Seriously, it's only a few paragraphs, but I was unsettled by it for at least a day afterward. I'd love to see Hodgman try his hand at something à la Edgar Allan Poe's tales of horror and imagination.

I read this book without having read its predecessors recently and was still able to enjoy it -- Hodgman provides helpful footnotes explaining where and when he has referred to places, people or things, and a lot of the humour is derived from the End of Days concept, which is pretty much specific to this book. It may help to know the basics about Hodgman's life and career, but I don't think it's strictly necessary.

If you liked the previous two books, get this one. If you haven't tried Hodgman before and like absurdist, deadpan humour and/or world-end myths (particularly RAGNAROK), this is probably worth a shot. show less

I hate to bring down the star count on this book, which began to redeem itself toward the end. I just found it by and large too frivolous, and I wanted better from a smart, funny guy like Hodgman (I probably came to the book with the wrong expectations, not having read his earlier work, and expecting something capital-W Worthwhile through and through). My full review here.

Complete compendium of world knowledge. What more do you want?
Not the best of the series, but still better than almost every thing else (in the false-encyclopedia category). Worth it for the reverse dust jacket photo alone.

Slightly more fragmented than the first two volumes in this compendium of (fake) world knowledge...and I am not enough of an uber fan to listen to the reverse looped audio list of unmentionable ones at the end of the book, but overall the topic of the end times allows Hodgman to be at his most zany. Despite the title, I hope that is not all.

John Hodgman is a funny man, but it didn't translate to this book. He also likes to use words in all caps frequently (several on each page). I suppose this is to try and make some kind of punch line or joke, but I found it exceedingly frustrating.