The Areas of My Expertise

An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order

By: John Hodgman

Narrated by: John Hodgman

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 best sellers 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.

©2005 John Hodgman (P)2006 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Critic reviews

"Wonderfully absurd." (The New York Times)

"Hilarious ... Nabokov's Pale Fire as directed by Wes Anderson." (Time Out New York)

"If Borges and Ben Franklin got drunk and decided to write a book together, the result might have been something a lot like this freaky 'almanac.'" (Tom Perrotta)

Theater of the Absurd

Hodgman's skill at creating and describing a delightfully ridiculous version of reality never fails to please. His mock serious narration of the "facts," together with Jonathan Coulton's occasional interjection, makes for a delightful listen. Because fully appreciating Hodgman's humor requires attention and because listening to both this book and "More Information Than you Require" were both such treats, I only would allow myself 20-30 minutes at a stretch, prolonging my enjoyment as much as possible. Alas, all good things must end, so I now must be satisfied with his wickedly funny (and actually quite wise) "Judge John Hodgman" podcast while I await his next opus--surely he has further revelations for those of us who require even more!

Love John Hodgman but...

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

...I didn't really enjoy this book. I knew that it was made up facts but I had a hard time listening to it. Apparently I need more of a story. A lot of people love this book, I guess I just am not one of them.

Enhanced, not abridged!

Note that this version of the book is read by the author John Hodgman with help from Jonathan Coulton. JH and JC banter throughout the book, for example instead of reading the tables on omens and portents cell by cell, JH asks JC what he saw the previous day, and JC attempts to bargain away Ragnarok by changing his story. Even if some of the content is removed from this version (while reading the Table of Contents JH says that he couldn't get the rights to discussing squirrel foot deformities), it is more than made up for by their interaction and JC's musical interludes.

I'm really curious to read the print version as well to compare them better; I expect it will be a very different experience.

Simply Amazing.

All I can say is that I found this book deeply deeply amusing. So much so that I've actually listened to it twice (I rarely do that). It really strikes the perfect balance between intelligence and silliness, which I immensely appreciate.

A bit too over the wall

I listen to the Judge John Hodgman podcast and I love the man's work. I find him to be clear-cutting and rational when judging silly questions, its pretty hilarious. So I had no doubt that his book offered the same type of judgmental personal insights. But I was mostly disappointed as the content offered nothing more than an accumulation of over the top randomness. I just didn't make me laugh.

interesting listen, not for everyone

John Hodgman delivers a unique brand of comedy in a deadpan style.
I wouldn't recommend this for anyone unfamiliar with his works, but for fans it's definitely a delightful trip into the mind of a comedic genius.

Wow!

I must admit that I was a little dubious about this one. If you've seen the actual book, you know it is full of tables and lists and lots of other things that would seem to make for a truly horrid audiobook. What a great surprise! The audio version of "Areas...." is *completely* reworked, absolutely hilarious, and an excellent example to anyone who would like to work in this medium. Hodgman adds examples, music, and stories to replace the most of the hopelessly complex tables. This obviously took more effort than the typical "sit down and read it" audiobook, and it was well worth it. This is very very funny.
Don't play it for anyone under 13; there is some risque language, and they won't get it anyway.

Monty Python Silliness w/o the Quality

If you like nonstop absurdity read where the sheer volume of humor ultimately read with author as its straight man reading with all due seriousness (like the "Airplane" or the "Naked Gun" movie series) - it's not the first joke that gets you but the 25 that come right in a row that finally gets you smiling or laughing, then you might like this book. Yes, it is whimsimal and very silly. Still, I felt like this was all being written right off the top of the author's head. Serious silliness requires some serious planning. Yes, it took time to think of 700 really silly hobo names but listening to them all became dull. There were only one or two laugh-out-loud moments for me. The rest is mildly amusing. I tend to over-rate books so three stars from me is LOW. Monty Python humor is seriously intellectual. Not this book, it is absurdist - to be sure- but not laugh out loud craziness. Airplane movies at least have a plot and physical comedy. If your expectations are low you will enjoy it, if you are expecting comic genius (as I was) you will be somewhat disappointed. One note: The audio version does some jokes involving the musical parts/background also done with the same deadpan mock seriousness where the jokes involve getting the right musical sound. It is nice to feel you are getting a bonus for buying an audio-edition and that the author exploited that angle. Still, it wasn't enough to make it a "must listen".

Good but Overwhelming

I didn't realize John Hodgman was the "PC" from the recent popular Apple commercials until somewhere halfway through the book. I found the book to be quite funny at parts, but other parts and jokes are so long and obscure, I felt it hard to keep listening.

John Hodgman has gone to great lengths to make this audio book entertaining, evening adding musical accompaniment and plenty of skits making fun of himself, his musical accomplice, and the book itself.

Perfect.

And for menacing mode: listen at x75 speed. And now here are seven more words.