Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:17:51 GMT

I just finished reading JOHN HODGMAN's newest book MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE this afternoon.

Allow me to say that it is piss-in-your-pants hilarious. Or maybe not hilarious? I don't know, but it's exactly the type of humour that keeps me in stitches. You know, lots of deadpan language stuff, and puns. The running gags of "literally*" and the other one of "bullroar" instead of "bullshit" to keep the language clean (while meanwhile using 'shit' or 'fucking' quite regularly) absolutely delighted me.

Also, there were any number of literary allusions as well as pop culture allusions and I'm sure that I didn't catch all of them.

I really like the way Hodgman starts off with a rather mundane idea, then grows it until it's completely absurd and perhaps even suggesting mental imbalance? when taken out of context. But within the context of the list or anecdote or whatever, it's utterly logical and oh my it's just like Renfield's Madman Logic from Dracula. But anyway.

There were a few things that didn't entirely work for me - some of the anecdotes were a little too long without reprieve by lists or tables, which was one of the things I loved about Areas of My Expertise. I mean, the mole-manic stuff was funny, but it felt a little forced in places, like Hodgman was trying to make sure he hit the 366 page count. Likewise, I liked the millionaire minor television celebrity persona used as a character in the book (think of how Colbert the actor/comedian plays Colbert the right-wing pundit), but the egoism of this character (many, many self-references and tangents to talk about himself) started to become wearisome by the end of the book. That said, the outlandish aspects of the character (such as his Upper West Side Observatory, or his Zeppelin) were fantastic.

I guess what I'm saying is that this book doesn't follow the "almanac" format quite so closely as the first one, which is occasionally detrimental to the humour. I find that rather than reading it all in one go, it was better to read a section or two at a time, so as not to be overloaded by the whole thing. I suppose it's rather like savouring a particularly sumptuous chocolate cake by cutting a small piece for dessert for a week rather than eating the whole thing for supper.

Amongst the things I particularly enjoyed were the daily "this day in history" notes at the top of each page. I was caught up in the weather feud between Richmond and Minneapolis and wondered what strange precipitation would show up next. The notes about the Yale Feline Research had me in stitches. And the section about Coulton, the feral man, was absolutely fantastic (it was referenced in one of the Yale Feline Research notes, too, which literally* slayed me). Oh, and that reminds me of another fantastic point of the book: it's done up as a second volume of a three volume work, with Areas of My Expertise as the first. So the page numbers continue from the first book and there are references and notes pointing to the first book. For example, in the section about Coulton's cat-killing ways, a note instructs the reader to the read about that story in the first book.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book (a little bit at a time) and I am so very glad that I purchased it and it's sitting next to the first one on my bookshelf (hopefully they do not spawn and create a blackhole! I actually do not keep my hardback and paperback copies of Areas of My Expertise together, due to the recommendation not to). If you're not a fan of Hodgman, or you didn't particularly care for Areas of My Expertise (or else you found it pretentious or too long or whatever), then you're likely not to enjoy More Information Than You Require, since it really is very much "MORE." But if you love Hodgman and can't get enough of him? This is definitely worth your time.

*not literally

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 03:03:28 GMT

Given my love of Hodgman and my love of the sections on hoboes in the book containing COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE, is it any wonder that my favorite American Girl is Kit, who spent a summer with hobos?

I shall think on this a while.

EXCERPTS FROM THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:59:59 GMT

(subject text taken from a comic by David Rees, viewable at http://www.areasofmyexpertise.com)

I was going to share these with sophysduckling in a comment in her journal, but I ended up quoting so much that I'm posting it here to link her to. I only pulled some of the easiest quotables (ie: shorter bits, since some of them are rather long if you want to understand the whole thing) that I thought she would like best, of anything I could quote.

But! The book is really awesome, and everyone should check behind the cut to see what kind of things are in it!

PS: I paraphrased or left sentences out in many places, but did not always indicate this. However, I believe that I have cited everything fairly well, according to MLA, which I never remember as clearly as I'd like. I can never remember how to format the citations. Oh well.

From an earlyish page:

A NOTE ON ORGANIZATION
I wish to reassure the modern reader that this book meets your requirements. It is composed of 55 discrete articles, tables, and figures, and like almanacs and experimental Latin American novels of old, you are encouraged to read them in any order, skipping them as you please, and following narrative threads of your own weaving. The footnotes will only point out the most obvious thematic echoes and authorial redundancies.
That said, all effort has been made to provide a satisfying experience to the old-fashioned reader who chooses to read from start to finish. For example, the pages have been numbered in the order in which they appear, they have also been fashioned out of light paper for easy turning by frail hands. Good luck, old-timer. I hope you enjoy yourself.
A NOTE ON SPORTS
Please note that there are only two references to sports in this book. They are on pages 71 and 95, and both are appropriately dismissive. If you wish for sports information, might I kindly refer you to every other aspect of our culture?

(Hodgman, John. The Areas of My Expertise p21. E.P. Dutton, NYC, 2005.</i>)

Table of Contents
Title Page
Good Evening
A Note on Organization
A Note on Sports
Table of Contents
Table of Tables
Table of Figures
What Will Happen in the Future
--(including: On Actuaries and Their Tattoos)
Information You Will Find Useful in the Present
--(including: How to Write a Book: The Fifty-Five Dramatic Situations; A Clarification Regarding the Dramatic Situation in Which Humans Fight Animals; Basics of Snow and Ice Warfare; Hints on Building Snow Forts; Diversions for the Asthmatic Child Who Cannot Play in the Snow)
What You Did Not Know About the Past
-- (including: History's Worst Men's Haircuts; A Brief Time Line of the Lobster in America; Prohibition-Era Euphemisms for Alcohol; Some Prophets Who Were Not Actuaries)
What You Did Not Know About Hoboes
Futher Information You Can Use Today
-- (inclding: Short Words for Use on Submarines to Preserve Oxygen; Secrets of Yale University; Debated Planets; The States, Their Nicknames and Mottoes, and Other Facts Critical to Safe Travel)
There Is More to the Past Than You Thought
-- (including: Nine Presidents Who Had Hooks for Hands; Colonial Jobs Involving Eels)
Good Morning
A Special Bonus Excerpt From My Next Book
Table of Tables
Table of Figures

(Hodgman, John. The Areas of My Expertise p23-27. E.P. Dutton, NYC, 2005.</i>)

I tried to quote the most amusing article names in each topic for you. Also, at the beginning of each topic, there is a chart of Lycanthropic Transformation Timetables.

I like the "Jokes That Have Never Produced Laughter," because, of course, as soon as I read one, I snicker at how awful and unfunny it is. Example:

A priest, a rabbi, and a nonreligious person are flying across the Atlantic Ocean, all for different reasons. There is engine trouble, and one of the wings catches on fire. The plane starts to go down. Luckily, there are enough parachutes for everyone. Evacuation is orderly.

(ibid. p. 57)

Also, "Famous Novels That Were Not Originally Published as Books" (having chosen the ones that I think will amuse you best):

-- Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar: woven into a carpet that could be read from any direction.
-- Dubliners by James Joyce: initially telegraphed as the last message from the Titanic. (Technically, this was a series of linked short stories, the last entitled "Please Save Us From Drowning.")
-- Sesslyu by Knut Nims: actually composed of the words of Ulysses arranged backward. Nims never bothered to write it out this way, instead claming that whenever Ulysses was read backward, it was officially his work, and he deserved a royalty.

(ibid. pp 74-75)

Aaaand! "Secrets of Yale University":

-- Yale was built by Elihu Yale with his own hands out of mud. (Somewhat true).
-- The world is secretly controlled by Skull and Bones. (Not true at all. NOT AT ALL.)
... And it is also true that Skull and Bones was originally chartered by the Illuminati and Knights Templar in order to infiltrate the Secret World Government at Yale's New Haven campus. But having failed to make any progress in this goal, the Bonesmen now focus almost exclusively on tending to the pterodactyls on their private island and on ritual masturbation.
-- Yale enforces its will on the world via a capella singing groups. (Absolutely true.)
-- The first submarine was invented at Yale and still patrols its underwater canals. (True.)
-- The Whiffenpoofs stole the Hope Diamond and presented it to Dick Cavett when they were guests on his television program in 1970. (False.)
It was the crystal skull of Alexander Hamilton.
-- Every year one student is randomly assigned to live in an extremely luxurious room made of solid gold. (True.)
-- Yale is the seat of the Secret World Government. (True.)
There is no Secret World Government

(ibid. pp 145-147)

"Debated Planets" includes MARS: Probably a government conspiracy; MERCURY: Zero axial tilt? Please. Most agree that this is either a space station or a self-aware supercomputer.

(ibid. p 148)

FAST FACTS ABOUT PHILADELPHIA:
-- The word "Philadelphia," from the Greek, literally means "Pennsylvania."
-- It has the highest number, per capita, of Benjamin Franklin impersonaters in the country.
-- Someday all of the Benjamin Franklin impersonators will fight all of the Mark Twain impersonators, flooding valleys and destroying whole towns in their wake, until nothing is left.
-- Harrison Ford lives here and protects Amish children.
-- Bryn Mawr Colllege, a small but esteemed school of witchcraft and wizardry in the city's western suburbs, is somtimes visible by day.
-- Philadelphia is at the cutting edge of some of ttoday's most exciting new developments in sandwich technology. The sandwiches here are so large and complex and sublime that they contain whole philosophies. Some have the complete oral tradition of several ancient cultures hidden within the roll alone.
-- Philadelphia was one of the thirteen East Coast cities called "home" by Edgar Allan Poe, and it was here that he hosted the first of his many Christmas Literary Extravaganzas. Held in 1839, it was, by contemporary accounts, a grand affair, involving feats of literary memorization and drunken sword canery, and a chorus line of murderous orangutans. Poe was dressed as Santa Claus, but at this point in his career this was hardly unusual. After reciting "Tamerlane," he famously brought out his child bride Virginia and seated her on his lap. "What would you like from Santa this year?" he asked. And she replied, "The modern detective story." And so he invented it then and there, writing "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" using only a checkerboard, a bottle of brandy, and a map of Paris. At this point, the police chased Poe back to Baltimore.

(ibid. pp 186-187)

"Little-Known Laws of Two American Communities"
The first bit is about Concord, Massachusetts, which, of course, is Thoreau's homebase (so to speak). I believe Emerson was from the area, too? At any rate, I'm going to quote some of the bits from this section:

-- It is illegal for an unmarried man to keep a journal about his experiences in the woods around the pond.
-- Providing inspiration to self-appointed liberators of India, whether now or in the future, is forbidden.
-- Civil disobedience shall be punished by clubbing.
-- Any prosperous person giving pies to person living in cabins by the pond shall also be clubbed.
-- Tell none about the clubbings.

(ibid. pp 213-214)

PS AGAIN: MY ICON IS FROM THE SECTION ON HOBOES, SPECIFICALLY THE SECTION ON HOBO SIGNS. WHEN YOU SEE AN UPPERCASE H SURROUNDED BY 16 RAYS, USUALLY WRITTEN WITH CHALK, IT INDICATES "IT IS TIME FOR HOBOES TO TAKE OVER THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT." OR, AS I PUT IT, "TIME FOR THE HOBO REVOLUTION!"

(PS #3: This post was copied from my LJ so that I could share it with everyone on JF without having to look up the link all the time.)

Sat, 04 Jun 2005 01:45:39 GMT

That is one of the coolest icons ever. I forever ♥ aluminiumdonut who made it for me. YAY DONUT.

This journal is strictly for F_W commenting, because I suck like that.

Keri

EXCERPTS FROM THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD