More Information Than You Require

by John Hodgman

Book Overview

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 REQUIREcompiles 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)...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525950346
• ISBN13: 9780525950349
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 596 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.9" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Very funny and a good read

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

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

This book is invaluable.

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.

If you need a laugh, you need John Hodgman.

Let me make a prediction. As a writer, John Hodgman will be to poetry what Stephen King is to modern historical thought. Is that farcical? You bet. Okay, John Hodgman isn't a poet, and Stephen King while an unsurpassed author of horror fiction, isn't an author of history. One fact that isn't a farce, however, John Hodgman is simply brilliant as a writer of faux facts. From a humor point of view, I can't remember a book that I've enjoyed more than More Information than You Require. Coming on the heels of Hodgman's unique The Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require is in everyway a continuation of the earlier book; even continuing the numbering of the pages. By the way, More Information will stand on its own as a read, but for the uninformed reader the paging may throw them off. Where as Area's of My Expertise dealt with hobos and hobo names, More Information deals with mole men and mole men names and claims that even the iconic Thomas Jefferson had dealings with them. Brilliant! Other notable points that stand out: Today in History sections. What's the funniest bit? Racing hermit crabs! I'd like to think of something to compare The Areas of My Expertise and More Information than You Require to, but there simply isn't anything; like the cheese, they stand alone. The English language is very precise. Terms like "genius" and "stunning" have very specific meanings. One of our communication problems today is that we're skewing the language with new uses/meanings for specific terms. Hodgman's More Information Than You Require is stunningly funny. It will entertain you for months or years to come. Is the book written by a genius? Only time will tell. I guess if Hodgman discovers how we can travel faster than the speed of light we could call him a genius. He is an intellect and he is certainly funny. During this Presidential election year and especially because of the economic bad news, we need More Information than You Require. This review was written on a PC for PC. I hope that's not a conflict of interest. Peace to all.

Perfect toilet reading

Hodgman's book, like the man, is hysterical. I was fortunate to hear him speak in Brookline, MA (his hometown) and after he signed books. I then spent most of the night reading. And much to my family's annoyance, laughing. At 3:00 AM, laughter in a (mostly) sleeping house isn't good. The section "How to become a famous minor television personality" is worth the price of the book by itself, It is everything you wanted to know about how Hodgman went from a literary agent and writer to a regular on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and his gig as "I'm a PC...". As you can imagine, there are many twists to the story including details pertaining to Battlestar Galactica, Justin Timberlake, American Airlines Admirals Club and other seemingly random people and places. A clever touch is that the book doubles as a page-a-day-calendar (there is a date on each page with a date-specific bit of wisdom). After reading much of the book in one sitting last night, I realize I messed up. I should have had the book in the bathroom and read a single page each day while on the throne. Somehow I think Hodgman would appreciate that.