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The Areas of My Expertise
John Hodgman
Perfectly hilarious nonsense!
Dutton
October 2005
240 pages ISBN: 0525949089 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
In the great tradition of the American almanac, The
Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious
compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia,
and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although bestsellers such as Poor Richard's Almanack
and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they
also were largely true. Here is a different kind of handy
desk reference, one in which all of the historical oddities
and amazing true facts are sifted through the singular,
illuminating imagination of John Hodgman--which is
the nice way of saying: He made it all up. John Hodgman brings his considerable expertise to bear in
answering all of the questions book buyers have been asking: -What are the mottoes of the 51 United States?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-Who were the U.S. presidents who had hooks for
hands?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-What role does the Yale secret society "Skull and Bones"
play in the secret world government?
THERE IS NO SECRET WORLD GOVERNMENT
-What was the menu at the first Thanksgiving, and did it
include eels?
Technically, that is two questions, but do not
apologize, for John Hodgman shall answer them both... LATER.
-Aside from a compendium of fake trivia, what is the best
kind of book to write?
A SIMPLE TABLE OF THE 55 MOST DRAMATIC LITERARY
SITUATIONS PROVIDES THE ANSWER, and John Hodgman is the
author of that table. Imagine if The Book of Lists had been rewritten by
Peter Cook and Jorge Luis Borges under the pseudonym of
"John Hodgman" and then renamed The Areas of
My Expertise, and you will only begin to have a sense
of the dizzying, uproarious, sublimely weird, and strangely
wise journey that is contained within this book (along with
all the pages and words). Perfect for anyone who thirsts for knowledge, and especially
for collectors of books of fake trivia, The Areas of My
Expertise offers through absurdity a better
understanding of the world we share--and recognizes that
while the truth may be stranger than fiction, it is never as
strange as lies... or as true.
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