Much better than expected. Quite the bargain considering I picked it out of my neighbor's trash
Much better than expected. Quite the bargain considering I picked it out of my neighbor's trash
I'm glad my sister recommended this to me. I wouldn't have checked it out based on the cover (I know, I know) and I wouldn't have realized that John Hodgman was the same guy who played the PC in Apple's PC vs. Mac ads, or that he'd been on The Daily Show. He's a great storyteller. Having just finished David Sedaris's Calypso, I was suffering a bit of humor withdrawal because I always get a bit attached to everyone in his family. Hodgman's book was a great salve for this... not because he gave me another family to get attached to (he does a good job protecting the privacy of family and friends by focusing mainly on himself), but by giving me a set of places to get attached to. From his childhood stomping grounds in Western Mass, to his family's vacation home in Maine, his stories - while delightfully …
I'm glad my sister recommended this to me. I wouldn't have checked it out based on the cover (I know, I know) and I wouldn't have realized that John Hodgman was the same guy who played the PC in Apple's PC vs. Mac ads, or that he'd been on The Daily Show. He's a great storyteller. Having just finished David Sedaris's Calypso, I was suffering a bit of humor withdrawal because I always get a bit attached to everyone in his family. Hodgman's book was a great salve for this... not because he gave me another family to get attached to (he does a good job protecting the privacy of family and friends by focusing mainly on himself), but by giving me a set of places to get attached to. From his childhood stomping grounds in Western Mass, to his family's vacation home in Maine, his stories - while delightfully entertaining - also convey a strong sense of place. I'll now go back and see what else he's written - and hope for a sequel.
This book is hilarious, and you should read it for that reason. It's also thoughtful, ridiculous, insightful and self-deprecating, which makes it all the more enjoyable, even if it is written by an affluent, middle-aged, white man.
I can add this. Although the book is very much about Brookline and Brooklyn in contrast with Western Massachusetts and Maine, Hodgman describes so well what it is he sees in these places, it is likely you can think of places you can relate more closely to that embodies, e.g., the Maine-ness of Maine.
This book is hilarious, and you should read it for that reason. It's also thoughtful, ridiculous, insightful and self-deprecating, which makes it all the more enjoyable, even if it is written by an affluent, middle-aged, white man.
I can add this. Although the book is very much about Brookline and Brooklyn in contrast with Western Massachusetts and Maine, Hodgman describes so well what it is he sees in these places, it is likely you can think of places you can relate more closely to that embodies, e.g., the Maine-ness of Maine.
I can't think of a book I've ever read that I'd recommend more widely or effusively than the first half of this book. (The second half is merely excellent.)
I can't think of a book I've ever read that I'd recommend more widely or effusively than the first half of this book. (The second half is merely excellent.)
I stayed up way too late reading Vacationland. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Very much a paper version of John Hodgman. Not only goofy weirdness for the sake of weirdness, there are a few threads that tie everything together and make some larger points. (But it's very much the goofy weirdness of the descriptive details that make his writing so enjoyable.)
I stayed up way too late reading Vacationland. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Very much a paper version of John Hodgman. Not only goofy weirdness for the sake of weirdness, there are a few threads that tie everything together and make some larger points. (But it's very much the goofy weirdness of the descriptive details that make his writing so enjoyable.)
TV's John Hodgman lives in Brooklyn and sometimes he lives in Brooklin, and these are stories about his life in those places. He name-drops Brooklyn easily (who doesn't?) but does not ever specify Brooklin, Maine, because he respects the privacy of his neighbors, but he leaves enough clues, on purpose, with large fat arrows pointing at them, because I think he really wants you to do some light stalking.
John Hodgman is also quite obsessed with the notion of his impending death. In many of his stories he worries that the strangers he encounters are secretly plotting to kill him. He also begs the reader not to track down his home address in Maine, show up on his doorstep, and murder him. Well what did you think was going to happen, John Hodgman? Serial killers love riddles. I wish you didn't have to go ahead and do that, John Hodgman.
TV's John Hodgman lives in Brooklyn and sometimes he lives in Brooklin, and these are stories about his life in those places. He name-drops Brooklyn easily (who doesn't?) but does not ever specify Brooklin, Maine, because he respects the privacy of his neighbors, but he leaves enough clues, on purpose, with large fat arrows pointing at them, because I think he really wants you to do some light stalking.
John Hodgman is also quite obsessed with the notion of his impending death. In many of his stories he worries that the strangers he encounters are secretly plotting to kill him. He also begs the reader not to track down his home address in Maine, show up on his doorstep, and murder him. Well what did you think was going to happen, John Hodgman? Serial killers love riddles. I wish you didn't have to go ahead and do that, John Hodgman.
