Scan barcode
loujoseph's review against another edition
4.0
i slowly read this over 4 months, not quite as good as the first book, but there were some amazingly funny parts in the middle.
alexrobinsonsupergenius's review against another edition
5.0
I laughed out loud several times. CAN YOU PROVE OTHERWISE?
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious but a tad less fresh than the first volume. I love that the inside dustcover mentions that non-Legion fans are losers. :)
amberhayward's review against another edition
3.0
I did not read My Area of Expertise because I asked for both books for Christmas & my dad picked this one to buy.
This was pretty great but though much of it was clever (I am still wondering how many jokes I missed based on the number of very subtle jokes I picked up on) some of it just seemed to be nonsense for nonsense sake... which I guess the whole book is, actually. Basically, if you read it I would recommend skipping the entire section about Mole Men. The chart of presidents and "What to Expect When Serving as a Juror" are pretty excellent, though.
This was pretty great but though much of it was clever (I am still wondering how many jokes I missed based on the number of very subtle jokes I picked up on) some of it just seemed to be nonsense for nonsense sake... which I guess the whole book is, actually. Basically, if you read it I would recommend skipping the entire section about Mole Men. The chart of presidents and "What to Expect When Serving as a Juror" are pretty excellent, though.
rocketiza's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I love Hodgman, this book had too much nonsense to do anything but skim. There wasn't any build to payoffs, just heavy doses of fictitious things presented as fact. This did not diminish my love of him, just probably won't try reading any more of his books.
jenmcmaynes's review against another edition
4.0
A very silly, very funny book. I sped through this in just 3 days, so it may have been the case that I was just really in the mood for something to make me laugh. But man, there were so many little "factoids" that had me, literally, laughing out loud and reading them to my husband, who also laughed out loud. Not everything works, of course. I skipped the list of 700 Mole-Men names and, in general, found the Mole-Men bits all a bit too over-the-top. But for the most part, this book of completely made up information hit my comedy spot, and I will very likely be reading his 1st and 3rd books some time soon.
ivanssister's review against another edition
3.0
Hodgman is correct. This IS more information than I require - I really didn't need all the Mole Men information. Otherwise, random and humorous.
uosdwisrdewoh's review against another edition
4.0
Another great book of fake trivia from John Hodgman, a bit better, in fact, than The Areas of My Expertise. He at once adds more odds and ends (a "Today in the Past" sidebar on every page, for instance) while also giving it a tighter structure, overcoming the slightly patchwork quality of the earlier book. In this book, Hodgman further details the fake inner workings of the world, giving us the ins and outs of the Electoral College (Rutherford B. Hayes won the election of 1876 by promising the Electors "more and better nutrient slime.") and hinting that he's almost forgiven Jonathan Coulton for forgetting to feed his cats that one time. He even manages to sneak a touching story about his marriage into a fantastic discursive rumination on the existence of aliens.
Just skip the 700 mole-man names. Even Hodgman later writes, "I BEGGED YOU NOT TO READ THEM."
Just skip the 700 mole-man names. Even Hodgman later writes, "I BEGGED YOU NOT TO READ THEM."
gimchi's review against another edition
3.0
chuckle-worthy, but not in the mood to read funny, but utterly false facts.