I was looking very forward to reading The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman.
Hodgman was part of the McSweeney’s gang from the earliest days, presenting advice as a former professional literary agent. According to Wikipedia, he’s been published in the Paris Review and New York Times Magazine, and he contributes regularly to NPR’s This American Life. Hodgman also plays the PC guy on Apple ads. He’s even been showing up on The Daily Show as the Resident Expert. Every time that I’ve come across him, he’s cracked me up.
That’s hilarity. Today, the always alert BGB-contributor/sergeant-at-arms, Dr J, forwarded me a link to an NPR interview of Hodgman by Robert Siegel. As a bonus, the page contains a reportedly hilarious Hodgman video, The History of NPR (warning: you’ll need RealPlayer - which is EVIL - to watch the video).
The book is a spoof of the old-style almanacs that used to claim encyclopedic, if spotty, knowledge on all manner of unrelated topics. All of the “facts” in AoME are very loosely based on objective reality. Check out the official web site for a flavor of the book.
One of the more hilarious sections of the book is Hodgman’s history of hobos in the US. The history contains a list of 700 hobo names, which have taken on a life of their own. You can hear the author read the list aloud here. Naturally, this led to an internet art project where fans submitted pictures of what each of the 700 hobos might have looked like. Hobos are comedy gold. Gold. All of this hobo talks reminds me of this photo from the early days of our web site.
Laurel Hill, Florida has an annual hobo festival that should see a large increase in hipsters and internet nerds descending on the town this year. I couldn’t find a festival link (usually in October), but you can join the Laurel Hill hobo club (a $25 donation gets you the title of “Mighty Hobo” and the choice of a cap or shirt - $50 to become a “Master Hobo” and receive a cap and shirt).
Hobos aside, the book is hilarious in some areas, not so much in others. It’s a mixed bag.
December 19th, 2006 at 10:48 pm
[...] Boing Boing posts that John Hodgman’s (he’s a PC!) The Areas of My Expertise is available for free (no pay) for download on iTunes. You have two BGB reviews to weigh (1 and 2). Govern yourself accordingly. But really, the price is right. [...]