That Is All

Do you accept the challenge? Keep in mind that this is nearly 17 hours of your life you will never get back!

As a fan of John Hodgman's first book, "The Areas of My Expertise" (which is, after all, my favourite audiobook -- period), I felt compelled to both begin and complete this book, even after the disappointment that his second book, "More Information Than You Require", proved to be. Nobody warned me!

Don't get me wrong. There are some bright spots in both the second book and in this third as well, but they are increasingly marginalized amid hours of remarkably unfunny material which fills the rest. I have to give it 3 stars overall because there are some gems in here and some fantastic performances, but I feel somewhat guilty doing so.

Alas, Hodgman is a comedic genius and wordsmith. But what happened here? Like Lucas and the Wachowskis before him, maybe he set the bar too high with "Expertise" and just ran out of good ideas. I know all the jokes and punchlines already, but I still find myself laughing out loud every time -- sometimes in anticipation of a joke I know is coming! Read, listen, or otherwise consume the first book, but steer clear of the rest of the series. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Funny, thoughtful, beautifully written -- some truly lovely passages in here, tucked in among fake facts and outright comedy.

His previous two.

He plays himself. So: that one.

I would definitely recommend at least two thirds of this book to a friend, which by itself is easily worth one credit.

Not as strong overall as the first two books in the series.

The performances by Hodgman, and a cast of others is great as always.

This book has some hilarious parts, but suffers in a few areas. First Jonathan Coulton is only in it a short while, which is a bummer, but his part of the book is at least one of the high points. Second the book delves into an oddly depressing, short, autobiographical section that felt kinda out of place, and sort of killed the mood for a while. Third, the 700 X section of this book (700 hobos, and 700 molemen in the previous book) is about one and a half hours of John Hodgman speaking backwards over a music track. Even when I found a youtube video of someone who had kindly reversed the audio to make it understandable, the music kinda drowns out his voice. It's a real bummer that I can't bring myself to listen to it, because I bet it was pretty funny. I'm sure some might appreciate the humor of reversing the names of these 700 dark gods, but I can't imagine even they would sit through that entire section of the book. I have to imagine the book doesn't suffer from this problem, but I could be wrong.

In this eagerly awaited final volume of his compendium of world knowledge, Hodgman has reached the apex of his career (and finale if, as he predicts, the world will end with Ragnarök on 12/21/2012).

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 the contributions of various guests, including Paul Rudd, Jonathan Coulton, Jon Hamm, Rachel Maddow, Paul F. Tompkins, Dick Cavett, and Brooke Shields, makes for a delightful listen.

Hodgman addresses issues that are admittedly tough for him, such as wine and sports, but he valiantly soldiers on, relying on just enough actual facts for the listener to start wondering where the real stuff stops and the fantastical begins.

A large part of the pleasure of this audiobook is Hodgman's own wonderfully dry narration which, along with the guest commentaries, makes for the perfect, and very funny, audiobook experience.

Magnificent nerd humor--make sure you catch it before Ragnarök!

This is by far the best entertainment i have in audio format. It is the best out of the 3, it's like he perfected his performance throughout the books. Must listen!

The jock story involving snowballs! True nerdom

his comedic style is very much in tune with my own.

No way! Way too long and i wanted to last as long as possible! i listened to it while i drove. It was great!

I hope you do more Judge John Hodgman! Maybe a JJHO audiobook!

The first part of this story was brilliant. The references were funny but.... towards the middle where it jumps into a short story not associated with the actual story, the enjoyment factor started to plummet...

I would certainly listen to the first half but maybe skip the second.

Made the second half more like the first...

John Hodgman's dry style of humor is amazing. What is not as amazing is the decision to write a day by day account of the events of the end of the world. Sorry folks, but a 'Day calendar' doesn't translate well to an audio format. The rest of the book is amazing, but this section grows very weary on the ears. Other than that - I completely enjoyed this book - the whit and humor of a deranged millionaire is quite funny.

Not after the intellectual assault of "That is All".

Only in small snippets, what is what Mr. Hodgman should stick to the 2 min monologue.

John works well as a narrator of his own stuff. His side kick and other cameo appearances were interesting, but the whole thing was like eternally listening to someone tell a joke and waiting for the punch line, which never comes.

It was an exercise in self discipline, since I bought the thing, I had better listen to it. But it was an arduous task. The primary redeeming quality is that it has an end.

I was disappointed that john found it necessary to resort to profanity. He obviously has not mastered the art of comedy without gratuitous vulgarity.

I'd like to first state that John Hodgman is my all-time favorite author. Unfortunately the text from this book just doesn't translate well into an audio format. The content is still all there but there is something that is somehow lost while listening to to book. I HIGHLY reccomend READING this book but I'd pass on checking out the audiobook.

Among the best. Certainly some of the best comedy.

The audiobook for More Information Than You Require is of the same amazing style as this. The original Areas of My Expertise is read in more of a straight style, but still is great.

See above.

Laughter. Out loud. Multiple times.