John Hodgman's first book is The Areas of My Expertise (2005 ), a comical compendium inspired by Poor Richard's Almanack and The Book of Lists, but different in that it contains exclusively false information.
"something of a Garrison Keillor for the young and expensively educated�." - 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'--an eccentric compendium of useless trivia, fabricated facts, outlandish speculation, and sublime nonsense. John Hodgman is witty, urbane, and completely out to lunch." - Tom Perrota, bestselling author
A former literary agent, Hodgman writes a regular, tongue-in-cheek advice column for McSweeney's (an independent publishing house founded by Dave Eggers), "Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent," and was recently named editor of a new humor section of the New York Times Magazine. He is a frequent contributor to NPR's "This American Life," and has published fiction and commentary in such publications as The Paris Review, One Story, and GQ. With the aim of reviving "the corpse of the literary reading," Hodgman founded and hosts the successful, offbeat, literary reading series, the Little Gray Book Lectures, based in Brooklyn, NY.
"[Hodgman] puts on the single-most interesting literary event I've ever experienced, and he somehow manages to do this every month." - Chuck Klosterman, Esquire columnist
Jonathan Coulton, is the accompanist for the Little Gray Book Lecture series, and will provide music for Hodgman's appearance. [See: htpp://www.jonathancoulton.com]
