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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I've been a fan of John Hodgman since his Daily Show days, and I thought, "Oh yeah, this should be a nice, fun audiobook for an upcoming car trip!" Smash cut to me SOBBING down the highway, to the point where I considered pulling over so I didn't get into a tear-induced accident. (Luckily traffic was light.)
(On that note: CW for animal death ;_;)
I'm glad I waited until after the 2020 election to listen to this because whew it really brought me back to that extremely depressing post-2016 mindset in a heartbreaking way. (And yes I know things are still bad etc etc but also, whew.)
Anyway, if you're a Hodgman fan you will likely enjoy this. If you're not already a fan of his I could see his whole "concerned about my straight white male privilege" deal being tiring tbh? But I think he is sincere and thoughtful and I like him.
(On that note: CW for animal death ;_;)
I'm glad I waited until after the 2020 election to listen to this because whew it really brought me back to that extremely depressing post-2016 mindset in a heartbreaking way. (And yes I know things are still bad etc etc but also, whew.)
Anyway, if you're a Hodgman fan you will likely enjoy this. If you're not already a fan of his I could see his whole "concerned about my straight white male privilege" deal being tiring tbh? But I think he is sincere and thoughtful and I like him.
I love John Hodgman's podcast, so listening to the audiobook of his latest book was a treat. He's consistently warm, funny, and insightful. Add in a focus on airline miles and corgis? Perfection.
4.75*
4.75*
This book might be a meditation on Tolstoy's dictum that “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.” All but maybe one* of the 20 intensely personal if arch stories in this book can be characterized as one or both of those stories. The last two stories take their title from the dictum and the title of the book, once explained, ties in to it. John Hodgman comes to town on an airline that, because of his strange and wonderful career, has bestowed upon him a status and access to the good snacks. Sometimes he retreats to E.B. White's town in Maine and meets strangers who come to town.
Or maybe Tolstoy's dictum is just a gimmick. This book is not great literature. It's a good 2020 coronapocolypse book; wry and sweet and funny and unchallenging.
Or maybe he's taking the piss out of Tolstoy. Lots of great stories involve journeys and strangers, from Gilgamesh to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But the dictum likely excludes Emma, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella. There are strangers and journeys, but that's not the story.
Hodgman portrays the good things in his life mostly as happy accidents. I don't know if that's true or self-deprecation. He comes to town to act, to tour with the Boston Pops, to make breakfast sandwiches at the general store in E.B. White's town, to march against Trump. He comes home to bury his cat and comfort his children about Trump's election.
Trump looms large in this book. I did not realize that Hodgman's Deranged Millionaire character on The Daily Show was a Trump satire. Hodgman is horrified at Trump's election and horrified that he himself developed bone spurs at about that time. He recognizes his sympathies with his monster, which pleases me oddly.
Suspect it would have been a great bus book, if I was not working from home because of the aforementioned coronapocolypse.
*Nude Rider. Hodgman did a nude shot. Though he played a stranger who covered his shame with an oboe.
Or maybe Tolstoy's dictum is just a gimmick. This book is not great literature. It's a good 2020 coronapocolypse book; wry and sweet and funny and unchallenging.
Or maybe he's taking the piss out of Tolstoy. Lots of great stories involve journeys and strangers, from Gilgamesh to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But the dictum likely excludes Emma, Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella. There are strangers and journeys, but that's not the story.
Hodgman portrays the good things in his life mostly as happy accidents. I don't know if that's true or self-deprecation. He comes to town to act, to tour with the Boston Pops, to make breakfast sandwiches at the general store in E.B. White's town, to march against Trump. He comes home to bury his cat and comfort his children about Trump's election.
Trump looms large in this book. I did not realize that Hodgman's Deranged Millionaire character on The Daily Show was a Trump satire. Hodgman is horrified at Trump's election and horrified that he himself developed bone spurs at about that time. He recognizes his sympathies with his monster, which pleases me oddly.
Suspect it would have been a great bus book, if I was not working from home because of the aforementioned coronapocolypse.
*Nude Rider. Hodgman did a nude shot. Though he played a stranger who covered his shame with an oboe.
One of the most breezy and fun books I’ve read this year. Hodgman does a fantastic job of mixing in humor and pathos and he’s a damn good writer to boot.
I truly enjoyed John Hodgman's second collection of stories; I like the way he played with theme of "secret rooms," or places you need a special sort of status to get into, relating it to his situation as TV actor with dwindling fame, getting used to having less access than he used to. The themes of privilege and mediocrity work well in this book, as he shows how unfair it is that he is granted more access than others. My favorite chapter is the last one, where he brings it back to small-town Maine, implicitly comparing the hollow sort of status you get by belonging to a club or being a celebrity or paying for a lot of Delta SkyMiles with the sort of status you get by belonging to community.
There's something frustrating about many of Hodgman's essays, a sense that there's some meaning lurking just beyond what was written; I'm still undecided if that's a problem or a strength.
There's something frustrating about many of Hodgman's essays, a sense that there's some meaning lurking just beyond what was written; I'm still undecided if that's a problem or a strength.
JJHO podcast is our go to for long drives, so this book was a treat
funny
lighthearted
reflective
this is a huge moment in my life as i have been terrorizing the people of dc for the last two years by keeping this library book in my possession for that amount of time. i just consulted with my email inbox and i checked this out on january 27, 2020. i was a different person then, as were we all.
that's one of the main reasons i took so long to read this: reading a book of personal essays written pre-pandemic has felt distinctly unappealing to me since the pandemic began, because i'm not the same person with the same concerns as i had before the pandemic, and i'm sure john hodgman isn't, either. (another one is that the dc public library system stopped charging late fees, and every lifelong law-abider needs to be phenomenally selfish and rebellious every now and again, and i've seized my window here.) i sort of felt like maybe john hodgman wouldn't even want me to read this now, because i figured his concerns would seem venal and ridiculous in light of how things have gone lately.
and they sort of do, but they were always meant to, is the upside, i guess. the book still works when it is just being funny. some of the later stuff in the book about american politics hasn't aged well in view of everything that's happened since then, and i didn't love this the way i loved vacationland, but i still enjoyed it on the whole.
anyway, the reason i finally picked this up now is that i got an email yesterday saying i need to renew my library card by the end of the month, and i know overdue fines are no longer charged (or god, i hope they're not; my account doesn't show any, but i can only imagine it'd be hundreds of thousands of dollars by now) but i felt like i would not be able to look the librarian in the face when i went to do so if she saw on my account that i had taken a short volume of personal essays out two and a half years prior and just never returned it. i shall be putting it in the book drop tomorrow and then returning to renew my library card after a buffer period, perhaps a few weeks. it's all fun and games to choose to be phenomenally selfish and rebellious until you are reminded that you are a lifelong law-abider because you feel a deep sense of shame in yourself when you are not.
i don't usually give half stars because i have long held that i oppose them on principle, but i'm giving one here because (a) nothing matters and (b) rules were made to be broken
that's one of the main reasons i took so long to read this: reading a book of personal essays written pre-pandemic has felt distinctly unappealing to me since the pandemic began, because i'm not the same person with the same concerns as i had before the pandemic, and i'm sure john hodgman isn't, either. (another one is that the dc public library system stopped charging late fees, and every lifelong law-abider needs to be phenomenally selfish and rebellious every now and again, and i've seized my window here.) i sort of felt like maybe john hodgman wouldn't even want me to read this now, because i figured his concerns would seem venal and ridiculous in light of how things have gone lately.
and they sort of do, but they were always meant to, is the upside, i guess. the book still works when it is just being funny. some of the later stuff in the book about american politics hasn't aged well in view of everything that's happened since then, and i didn't love this the way i loved vacationland, but i still enjoyed it on the whole.
anyway, the reason i finally picked this up now is that i got an email yesterday saying i need to renew my library card by the end of the month, and i know overdue fines are no longer charged (or god, i hope they're not; my account doesn't show any, but i can only imagine it'd be hundreds of thousands of dollars by now) but i felt like i would not be able to look the librarian in the face when i went to do so if she saw on my account that i had taken a short volume of personal essays out two and a half years prior and just never returned it. i shall be putting it in the book drop tomorrow and then returning to renew my library card after a buffer period, perhaps a few weeks. it's all fun and games to choose to be phenomenally selfish and rebellious until you are reminded that you are a lifelong law-abider because you feel a deep sense of shame in yourself when you are not.
i don't usually give half stars because i have long held that i oppose them on principle, but i'm giving one here because (a) nothing matters and (b) rules were made to be broken
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Deranged billionaire / internet judge / resident weird dad expert John Hodgman has done it again! Medallion Status is equal parts hilarious and contemplative. So like, be mindful and kind and laugh at absurdity in life but never forget that darkness comes for us all.
This collection of essays reads a lot like his last book (Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches) though it focuses more on his career, odd jobs, and dwindling fame. Honestly, I’d listen to him talk about anything, whether or not it’s been squeezed into a thematically related casing like some sort of literary blood sausage. Go buy it. And let’s make the term #literarybloodsausage a thing.
This collection of essays reads a lot like his last book (Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches) though it focuses more on his career, odd jobs, and dwindling fame. Honestly, I’d listen to him talk about anything, whether or not it’s been squeezed into a thematically related casing like some sort of literary blood sausage. Go buy it. And let’s make the term #literarybloodsausage a thing.
4 out of 4. If you like John Hodgman, you are guaranteed to like this book!