Week 2: The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman (Riverhead books, 2006, paperback)
I picked up this book from a clearance rack several months ago. I’m familiar with Hodgman as a comedian for The Daily Show, as part of the successful Apply advertising campaign, and through various audio programs and podcasts. I admire his style and his voice–as I read this book, I could imagine how he would be reading in his deadpan, matter-of-fact style that gives it underlines his absurdest approach.
His book is an encyclopedic approach to a wide range of facts, history, statistics and charts–all taking seeds of truth and twisting them into humorous contours. I truly appreciate that the persona he’s presented here–a fully confident renaissance man conveying all he knows–is carried through completely, from the front and back covers to nearly page of the book. The breadth of Hodgman’s imagination is staggering–as absurd as his information and facts become, you admire how he’s able to create such strange yet compelling ideas.
I particularly liked the narratives he provides. One of the best is his travels through the Mall of America in Minneapolis. This short vignette, touching on iconic (stereotypical) images of the North, shows his real strength. I don’t think Hodgman goes for the over-the-top joke, or the deep bellow laugh. He’s looking for the intellectual charm and the unexpected reaction, which fits my humor. He’s in line, in his narrative pieces, with the deadpan political works of Al Franken (before his political viewpoints overtook his humor).
As much as I admire the range of Hodgman’s work, by the end I’d grown tired of the joke. In particular, the running gag of the hitherto untold story of the political, historical and cultural epoch of Hobos ran thin towards the end. I skimmed through the hundreds of Hobo names–quantity here simply drained rather than sustained the joke. I did like the appendix, unique to the paperback book, about his daughter’s influence on his next book. Again, it was narrative that worked the best.
At the end, this is best a book to read in bits and pieces and not straight through–its encyclopedic tructure lends itself to this approach. I think you’ll appreciate his imagination, and his humor, in short doses and be able to savor the style that makes Hodgman unique.
Next week . . . Jasmine by Bharati Mukherjee.