- Audio CD
- Publisher: Penguin Audio USA; Abridged edition (Aug 22 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143059092
- ISBN-13: 978-0143059097
- Product Dimensions: 15 x 13.2 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 113 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,223,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Hodgman, "resident expert" on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and a New York Times Magazine contributor, prides himself as a leading authority in the realm of informative false world knowledge. In adapting his collection of fake trivia to audio, Hodgman couples sketch comedy showmanship and cerebral literary parody. Musician Jonathan Coulton enlivens Hodgman's more lengthy—sometimes plodding—narrative passages. Coulton's musical interludes during Hodgman's profiles of "Our 51 States" prove especially entertaining. Paul Rudd provides an "uncredited cameo" as the guest reader for "Jokes That Have Never Produced Laughter." The audio edition also includes a special bonus "700 Hobo Names" CD, an addendum to Hodgman's "Things You Did Not Know About Hoboes" chapter. Hodgman's distinct brand of offbeat humor somehow manages to spoof—yet ultimately embrace—an intellectual thirst for the esoteric. Admittedly, Hodgman can sometimes become mired in the long-winded details of his obscure falsehoods. Yet, connoisseurs of the Schott's Miscellany titles and the Onion will still find more than enough deliciously absurd faux facts to make for a worthwhile listening experience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Wonderfully absurd." - New York Times
"Hilarious...Nabokov's Pale Fire as directed by Wes Anderson." - Time Out New York
"If Borges and Ben Franklin got drunk and decided to write a book together, the result might have been something a lot like this freaky 'almanac'." - Tom Perrotta
"Even if you buy this book for the 700 hobo names alone, you will have gotten more than your money's worth." - Dave Eggers
"A book of absurd tall tales, tables and charts spun from the warped brain of John Hodgman...Impressively eclectic." - Los Angeles Times
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
"Hilarious...Nabokov's Pale Fire as directed by Wes Anderson." - Time Out New York
"If Borges and Ben Franklin got drunk and decided to write a book together, the result might have been something a lot like this freaky 'almanac'." - Tom Perrotta
"Even if you buy this book for the 700 hobo names alone, you will have gotten more than your money's worth." - Dave Eggers
"A book of absurd tall tales, tables and charts spun from the warped brain of John Hodgman...Impressively eclectic." - Los Angeles Times
Inside This Book
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Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
Traditional almanacs regularly included information about what to expect in the coming year with regard to crop yields, tidal patterns, moonrises, and so on. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Traditional almanacs regularly included information about what to expect in the coming year with regard to crop yields, tidal patterns, moonrises, and so on. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Hugely Disappointing,
This review is from: The Areas of My Expertise (Paperback)
The total number of laughs I had while reading this book is one less than the number of stars I've given it. What a colossal bore!
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Expertise in Hilarity...but then "The Typo",
By
This review is from: Areas Of My Expertise (Hardcover)
This is a seriously funny book. That is an oxymoron to be sure (def: oxygenated moron) but nonetheless I stand by that vague statement. This is a book for people who love to learn about little known facts and aren't concerned if the facts are instead absurd fictions designed to make you laugh. While not all of Hodgman's absurdities worked for me there were more than enough that made me laugh out loud (e.g. I loved the sections from his fictional next book on his baby daughter) to make up for the ones that left me wondering why that section was supposed to be funny. So I recommend this book for people who have a twisted sense of humour. Don't try to ask yourself how a man could put together such random topics (Hobos? Squirrels?), just appreciate the dry wit that could write such a book.However, I would be remise in my duties as a reviewer if I did not point out the elephant in the room. In this case, the elephant is "the typo" and the room is the book I am reviewing. It appears on the top of page 226 in the first printing of the hardcover edition and it reads "The is the entirety of Chapter 19 "What About Badminton?"" Did you see it? "The" is used instead of "This". This came at the end of the book but like taking a bite of spoiled cheese at the end of an excellent lobster dinner, it marred the entire experience. My advice to you, future reader of this book, is to get a friend to cut out this typo so you don't have to witness it as I did. My advice to you, ineffective editors of future editions, is to preserve this typo in all its horrific glory. Like Bill Bucker's gaff in the 6th game of the 1986 World series, like Napoleon's invasion of Russia, and just like everything that came out of George W Bush's mouth, sometimes these blunders are better remembered than the unblunders.
1 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
best almanac ever,
By A Customer
This review is from: Areas Of My Expertise (Hardcover)
I can't spell but I sure like to read. well, I liked this book anyway cuz i could put it down for weeks and pick it up again and there's no story to try to remember but it's funny as hell.
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