 | | |
| More Information Than You Require | 
 enlarge | List Price: $25.00
Buy New: $13.41
You Save: $11.59 (46%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $13.41
Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 176
Category: Book
Author: John Hodgman
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Studio: Dutton Adult
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
Label: Dutton Adult
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.3
ISBN: 0525950346
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.5402
EAN: 9780525950349
ASIN: 0525950346
Publication Date: October 21, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The bestselling author of The Areas of My Expertise? also known as The Daily Show?s ?Resident Expert? and the PC in the iconic Mac ads?picks up exactly where his first book left off. Exactly.
Like its predecessor, MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE compiles incredibly handy made up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, frighteningly complex charts, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes such as:
THE PAST (because there is always more)
THE FUTURE (because they say there is still some left to discuss)
THE METHOD BY WHICH WE ?ELECT? OUR PRESIDENTS (as this will be happening soon)
THE STRANGE OKAPI (an actual animal) GAMBLING: THE SPORT OF THE ASTHMATIC MAN (includes hermit crab racing)
HOW TO BE A FAMOUS MINOR TELEVISION PERSONALITY (hint: go on television)
PLUS: 700 MOLE-MAN NAMES (and their occupations)
Yes. HODGMAN MAY HAVE BEEN BRIEFLY ABSENT FROM YOUR LIFE, but with this volume he is ready to pick up exactly where THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE left off?specifically AT PAGE 237.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon Best of the Month, October 2008: While writer and former literary agent John Hodgman had a considerable cult following before the publication of his first book, The Areas of My Expertise, the exact moment when Hodgmania hit fever pitch can be traced to his November 16, 2005, appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, when a "Famous Minor Television Personality" was born. Since then he has welcomed a new level of visibility as the Resident Expert on The Daily Show, appearing as the PC in the ubiquitous "Get a Mac" ads, and in bit roles in movies and on TV, so the world should be primed to embrace More Information Than You Require, Book Two in his Compendium of Complete World Knowledge (or, as it says on the cover, "New Ferret, Same Old Con"). Fun facts, bizarre trivia, and oddball photos ("Figure 51: Jane Addams, Pre-Antlers") are crammed into every corner of the page with extended riffs on How to Tell the Future Using a Pig?s Spleen, What to Expect While Serving as a Juror, Gambling ("Sure Thing Number Three: Star Wars Slots"), How to Deal With Some Common Infestations, and of course, How to Be Famous. And what he did for hobos in The Areas of My Expertise, celebrating their free spirit and conniving ways (and a list of 700 hobo names), Hodgman does for mole-men, the "race of humanoids who live in the complex warren of tunnels and vast caverns beneath the earth." Did you know, for instance, that Thomas Jefferson uncovered on his "mole-manic palace known as Monticello" a "small group (or 'Parlor') of mole-men dining on weevil pie and discussing world affairs... 'They touched my face,' wrote Jefferson, 'and hissed, as is their custom.'" Naturally there are 700 Mole-Man Names and Occupations included ("No. 281: Mr. Wallow Dripstone, a worm rider"). Hodgman may be up to the same old con, but this brand new ferret of a book is a wise (and wise-ass) little predator who will swindle away your reading time with endless hours of rabies-free laughs. --Brad Thomas Parsons
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Uneven but at times very funny November 15, 2008
Though I felt the first two thirds of this book were much better than the last, I still recommend this one for lovers of satire and humor. Anyone who laughs at John Hodgman's lovable diatribes on The Daily Show or enjoy his Mac commercials should pick this one up. I found myself laughing out loud at much of the early stuff, and would recommend this book. Enjoy!
The Hodgman charm continues November 11, 2008
Another great, nonsensical book from Hodgman. Full of that strange milieu of self-effacing humor and outright lies stated convincingly as fact, the book picks up exactly where the first left off, and just continues the hilarity (although I'm pretty sure they got a "spine camera" into this book). If this is your first encounter with John Hodgman's brand of comedy I suggest that you go and get the first book and read it now. Buy them together if you wish! Or buy them separately and do not tell either book that you have read the other as it then may have a preconceived notion of what you will think of it and then will begin to have performance anxiety and then may render itself illegible. In the immortal words of the author, "That is all."
Very funny and a good read November 3, 2008
Hodgman's previous book, Areas of My Expertise, is one of the very few that makes me laugh out loud. More Information is another. It is just as funny as Areas, but more complex as one follows narrative threads through apparently self-contained sections, including the very sneaky Page-a-Day calendar inserts. This book is also more autobiographical than Areas and includes some very touching stories. Overall, as much as I loved Areas of My Expertise, it is now my second favorite Hodgman book. I found More Information than Your Require to be an even more satisfying read. My only quibble is that it does not contain more information than I require. I require the third part of this project as quickly as possible!
If you haven't read Hodgman's new book, shame on you October 27, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you only know John Hodgman as the perennially outclassed PC of Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads, you are missing so much of who he is. If your knowledge extends to his recurring role as resident expert of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," you're still only scratching the surface. And if you've gotten to his 2005 faux almanac "The Areas of My Expertise," you know he captures the title of the most oddly brilliant writer in literature today.
And if you haven't gotten to his new book "More Information Than You Require," shame on you. Once again, Hodgman has written a book filled with made-up facts on subjects ranging from gambling to presidential elections to how he plans to spend his enormous wealth. The book is a direct sequel to "The Areas of My Expertise" in every way: it begins exactly where that book left off (page 237), has the same format of lists/predictions/hoboes and is once again a book you can't read in public because everyone stares at you for laughing so hard.
The closest equivalents to Hodgman's fiction-masquerading-as-truth style are The Daily Show's "America: The Book" and Stephen Colbert's "I Am America (And So Can You!)," but his books avoid being limited to one area of study. His topics oscillate between counting how many United States presidents have had hooks for hands (eight), the best way to cook an owl (goat sacrifice is involved) and racing hermit crabs for money (the winning strategy is to use trained falcons against the competition).
In the hands of a lesser author these facts would fall apart into babble, but Hodgman - a Yale graduate and professional literary agent - has a rare gift for holding it all together. He admits at the beginning that every single fact in the book is one he made up himself, and then goes on to state each one in a matter-of-fact tone, even supplementing them with footnotes that call back to facts even more patently absurd.
The footnotes help hold his structure together, as does the addition of a "Today in History" feature where every page has an additional fact about what happened during that day. These facts are more random than the rest of the book, though it does contain an interesting narrative on raining teeth and dead frogs on two major American cities back in 1981.
The overlay of multiple facts in "More Information" also means that it has endless potential for re-reading, as - for example - you've likely been so caught up in learning that you cannot eat oysters in months that lack the letter "R" (their screaming months) you missed the note that Amelia Earhart and Quetzalcoatl sit on the blood thrones and will soon judge us all.
Special mention goes to Hodgman's section on the mysterious world of the mole-men, a follow-up to his previous anthropological study of hoboes (and the 700 accompanying hobo names that inspired the illustrations of [...]). It's the most cohesive of the sections, building a narrative that reveals how the mole-men not only collaborated with Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, but they also access the surface world through Paris catacombs, ride a variety of hideous steeds such as dirt pumas and really like doing it "molely-style."
And of course, the book contains 700 mole-man names sure to inspire another illustrative website. I eagerly await seeing artistic renditions of names such as Drew Danglemites, Tremont Crawsalong and Nick Nolte.
It's prudent to start with "Expertise" (particularly to follow footnotes referring back to the first book) but doing so isn't essential to enjoying "More Information." In fact, nothing is essential to enjoying the book beyond simply opening it. It's as Hodgman has been writing down all the random late-night conversations you've ever had thanks to drugs or boredom or sleep deprivation, and compiled them into one whole text - except he's been far cleverer with it than you could ever hope to be.
This book is invaluable. October 26, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Simply put, this book (and its predecessor) is/are the epitome of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE. I bought this book the day it came out, and the introduction alone was worth the full purchase price.
In addition to useful information on mole-men and gambling, this book also includes a helpful section on the presidents, past and future, as well as a brief exposition on how the glorious half-sultan of our nation is chosen.
The page-a-day calendar is also a handy feature, but I hope that the paperback edition has different facts, as buying the same calendar twice would be uneconomical. (You will have to buy the paperback edition, since the proper way to read a page-a-day calender is, of course, to rip out each page once you're done with it.)
All in all, this book is well worth any amount of money that you agree to pay for it, and should be on every shelf of the serious scholar.
|
|
|
 Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| | |
