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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
I love John Hodgman's writing
This one felt more melancholy than Vacationland, but I still really enjoyed it
This one felt more melancholy than Vacationland, but I still really enjoyed it
Mostly enjoyed this. Semi-connected essays, some better than others. Frequent references to the content of Vacationland, which I haven’t read yet but will. Wish I’d read it first, I guess, but nbd.
Quirky, funny, strangely touching at times. Likely not for everyone but if you are a Daily Show fan or enjoy quirky comedy, I recommend!
Laugh out loud funny and quite touching at times. There’s a pretty solid Dune joke on page 16 that sold me on the whole book.
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
As good as, if not better than, Vacationland; an enjoyable, self-aware glimpse into how the other half lives. This one feels slightly more autobiographical (yes, they're obviously both memoirs, but these stories specifically seem more concerned with the unique events relevant to JH's celebrity origin story) and of course more culturally hyper-relevant. I could absolutely read JH's writing all freaking day.
I was really looking forward to this book, even though it did not come out on my birthday (strike one) like JH’s last book. Right off the bat (mild spoiler) a promise—a threat—is made that this book will contain no Maine stories (strike two). I told someone that I had already knocked off a star.
But then, the stories were great! Even without Maine! Hollywood, Scientologists, travel by air, travel by car. Not all fun and games, though, the author writes poignantly about seemingly universal trials: post-election grief, coping with the loss of a pet. I was about to give 4.5 stars.
But in the final chapter the author breaks his promise and tells a great tale about Maine.
But then, the stories were great! Even without Maine! Hollywood, Scientologists, travel by air, travel by car. Not all fun and games, though, the author writes poignantly about seemingly universal trials: post-election grief, coping with the loss of a pet. I was about to give 4.5 stars.
But in the final chapter the author breaks his promise and tells a great tale about Maine.
CW: pet death.
This book was really funny but also very sincere. He talked a lot about privilege, and it’s nice to hear a white man actually acknowledge his own privilege.
This book was really funny but also very sincere. He talked a lot about privilege, and it’s nice to hear a white man actually acknowledge his own privilege.
A charming and well observed mediation on fame and identity.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced