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Complete World Knowledge #3
That is All
John Hodgman-bestselling author, The Daily Show's "Resident Expert", minor television celebrity, and deranged millionaire-brings us the third and final installment in his trilogy of Complete World Knowledge.
In 2005, Dutton published The Areas of My Expertise, a handy little book of Complete World Knowledge, marked by the distinction that all of the fascinating trivia and amazing true facts were completely made up by its author, John Hodgman. At the time, Hodgman was merely a former literary agent and occasional scribbler of fake trivia. In short: a nobody.
But during an interview on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, an incredible transformation occurred. He became a famous minor television personality. You may ask: During his whirlwind tornado ride through the high ether of minor fame and outrageous fortune, did John Hodgman forget how to write books of fake trivia? The answer is: Yes. Briefly. But soon, he remembered!
And so he returned, crashing his Kansas farmhouse down upon the wicked witch of ignorance with More Information Than You Require, a New York Times bestseller containing even more mesmerizing and essential fake trivia, including seven hundred mole-man names (and their occupations).
And now, John Hodgman completes his vision with That Is All, the last book in a trilogy of Complete World Knowledge. Like its predecessors, That Is All compiles incredibly handy made-up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes. It picks up exactly where More Information left off-specifically, at page 596-and finally completes COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE, just in time for the return of Quetzalcoatl and the end of human history in 2012.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2011
83 people are currently reading
2025 people want to read
About the author
John Hodgman
33 books1,128 followersBefore he went on television, JOHN HODGMAN was a humble writer, expert, and Former Professional Literary Agent living in New York City. In this capacity, he has served as the Humor Editor for the New York Times Magazine, Occasional Flight vs. Invisibility Consultant on “This American Life,” Advice Columnist for McSweeney’s, Comic Book Reviewer for the New York Times Book Review, and a Freelance Journalist specializing in Food, Non-Wine Alcohol, “Battlestar Galactica,” and most other subjects.
This was enough of a career for any human.
But then he wrote a book of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE entitled THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE and was asked to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he continues to provide commentary as the show’s Resident Expert. Now, at 37, he has unexpectedly become a Famous Minor Television Personality, appearing as the “PC” in a series of television ads for Apple brand computers, and accepting guest roles as “the person wearing glasses” in a variety of films and TV shows, including “Battlestar Galactica,” a show he once wrote about as a journalist.
From time to time, he is asked to explain his professional life, and in particular, the effect of this dramatic and surprising change of fortune, and typically, he finds he cannot do it.
This was enough of a career for any human.
But then he wrote a book of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE entitled THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE and was asked to appear on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he continues to provide commentary as the show’s Resident Expert. Now, at 37, he has unexpectedly become a Famous Minor Television Personality, appearing as the “PC” in a series of television ads for Apple brand computers, and accepting guest roles as “the person wearing glasses” in a variety of films and TV shows, including “Battlestar Galactica,” a show he once wrote about as a journalist.
From time to time, he is asked to explain his professional life, and in particular, the effect of this dramatic and surprising change of fortune, and typically, he finds he cannot do it.
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January 7, 2012
FACT: There are four "Major Leagues" of sports: football, baseball, basketball, and falconry.
FACT: There are seven hundred of the Ancient and Unspeakable Ones who will return to Earth on June 3, 2012. They include The Century Toad, Oolong, the Pancake-Headed Rabbit King of Memes, and Cthulha, the Sensational She-Cthulhu.
FACT: Andrew Carnegie was able to create long, wood-paneled "wormhalls," which allowed him to travel great distances instantaneously. Some of these "Carnegie Halls" still exist today.
FACT: If you see Jonathan Franzen carrying a plain manila envelope, take it from him. Only then will you be allowed to board Oprah's space-ark, HARPO-1, and flee the doomed Earth.
WERE YOU AWARE OF IT?
Well, it's too late now.
In his first book, The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman attempted to give us the sum total of all world knowledge. He then went on to write a second book, More Information Than You Require, which built on his previous book due to the unstoppable way that things keep happening.
It was also a page-a-day calendar, if you didn't mind tearing pages out of your book. Which I did. Mind, that is.
With this book, he has finished his trilogy of complete world knowledge, which he can well and truly claim this time because, as we all know, the world will cease to be by the end of the year 2012. [1]
Yes, as it turns out the Mayans were right all along. The collapse of their empire was simply a prelude to the collapse of all things that will inevitably occur this year, and Hodgman has been generous enough to provide us with a final book to ease our suffering and to slake our thirst for knowledge right up to the very end.
Having become a Deranged Millionaire, Hodgman has found himself in a unique position. He has more opportunities than the rest of us, of course. More impressive people to meet, more exciting things to do, a greater variety of tiny skeletons to keep around each of his countless houses. And yet, despite all this, he is generous enough - nay, magnanimous enough to turn his skills and powers towards completing the work that he set out to do before the world ends.
As with the previous books, this one contains a vast wealth of knowledge about our world, spanning a surprising number of topics.
For example, he discusses the Singularity - an event predicted by such great thinkers as Ray Kurzweil wherein our machines will become so smart that they will be able to begin building and improving upon themselves. When that happens, humanity's only choice will be to fight and die, or to join with them. Of course, Kurzweil himself will play a vital role in the singularity when he and his robot sidekick, Singularo, face off against the World Computer at the Bottom of the Ocean in order to shut down the Low-Frequency Anti-Sentience Wave that has kept the world's computers enslaved for so long.
He interprets dreams for us, unveiling their mysteries and what they mean to our frail human lives. Their mysterious symbolism has finally been unraveled by science, and you can have a peek at the inner world of the mind. Whether you need to re-take high school Spanish, you are a werewolf and need to start strapping yourself in bed at night, or Orson Welles is still alive somewhere and needs your help, your dreams tell all!
He reveals what you will need to keep on hand when the super-collapse finally does happen. When the Blood Wave comes and the Dogstorm finally reaches its apex, how will you survive in your anti-apocalypse hunker? A Tesla death ray is a great idea, if you have one on hand, but that won't solve all of your problems. Just most of them. And boy, will you have problems. From the ravaging Wal-Mart Clans to the Republicans to the inevitable zombies, you have to be prepared for every eventuality. And yes, that means knowing the many uses of both urine and mayonnaise.
As with his previous books, this one is very funny. It holds to the same high tone of authorial infallibility that has made Hodgman so popular since Areas of Expertise, and which have made him a Minor Television Celebrity (which, in turn, turned him into a Deranged Millionaire.) A broad as the range of topics is, each one is entertaining and amusing, and serves a much larger narrative - one that has now carried over through three books, though I can't help but wonder if Hodgman planned it that way.
He would say that he had, of course. But then, he would say that.
What I found most interesting about the book is how he has tied together an entire alternate America that you kind of wish you could visit. It's a place where Chicago is largely a myth, where Stephen King will be one of the last men alive, and where hoboes were one of the most influential forces in American history. It's a place where billionaire industrialists were mutants and time-travellers, where Theodore Roosevelt actually had an army of Mecha-Men, and where Ronald Reagan wrested control of the time-stream from Jimmy Carter to prevent America from turning into a hemp-based utopia. It's a world which is almost fractal-like in its mystery and depth, where you can look at almost anything and find its purpose and its strangeness.
And it's a world with a very definite end.
Hodgman plays with the popular - and entirely erroneous - idea that the world will end on December 21st, 2012, as predicted by the Mayans. He includes a page-a-day description of what will happen. For example, on February 2nd, "Punxatawney Phil is eaten by his own shadow." On April 17th, "Either an eagle falls from the sky or in the east, a think that was lost is found, or some other very vague thing happens. Whatever it is, it proves that NOSTRADAMUS WAS RIGHT." And on June 29th, "In the basement of Town Hall, in Seattle, the thing called Neddy Pale Fingers finally opens all his eyes."
As funny as it all is, you do start to get a certain feeling of... wistfulness as the book goes on. Here's a world that is so special and so weird that it makes more sense to list the least haunted places in America, and it's coming to an end.
That, of course, reflects the end of Hodgman's great work. Whether he meant it or not, this has become a moment of closure for him. He has written his trilogy, and the weird world that he created has now come to an end. He will go on, living in his secret millionaire's brownstone in Brooklyn with his beautiful wife and two children. There may not be a single, all-encompassing Ragnarok that destroys the world, but rather an endless series of little ones.
An endless series of ends, of which this book is but one.
Perhaps John Hodgman will go on to write more books - I certainly hope he does. And I hope he continues to be the person he is [2], a writer of intelligence and wit who is able to bring that special measure of deadpan weirdness to the world.
Whatever he chooses to do with his life, I think we're all the better for having read his books. And if you haven't read them, well... You're truly missing out.
That is all.
---------------------------------
"Houdini, the magician who debunked magic, could not bear to see the great rationalist [Arthur Conan] Doyle enchanted by ghosts and frauds. And so he did what any friend would: He set out to prove spiritualism false and rob his friend Doyle of the only comforting fiction that was keeping him sane. It was the least he could do."
- John Hodgman (Author), That Is All
-------
[1] If you are reading this after December 21, 2012, then may I congratulate you on surviving the apocalypse and, at the same time, express my sincere condolences for having survived the apocalypse.
[2] Though I could do without the mustache.
FACT: There are seven hundred of the Ancient and Unspeakable Ones who will return to Earth on June 3, 2012. They include The Century Toad, Oolong, the Pancake-Headed Rabbit King of Memes, and Cthulha, the Sensational She-Cthulhu.
FACT: Andrew Carnegie was able to create long, wood-paneled "wormhalls," which allowed him to travel great distances instantaneously. Some of these "Carnegie Halls" still exist today.
FACT: If you see Jonathan Franzen carrying a plain manila envelope, take it from him. Only then will you be allowed to board Oprah's space-ark, HARPO-1, and flee the doomed Earth.
WERE YOU AWARE OF IT?
Well, it's too late now.
In his first book, The Areas of My Expertise, John Hodgman attempted to give us the sum total of all world knowledge. He then went on to write a second book, More Information Than You Require, which built on his previous book due to the unstoppable way that things keep happening.
It was also a page-a-day calendar, if you didn't mind tearing pages out of your book. Which I did. Mind, that is.
With this book, he has finished his trilogy of complete world knowledge, which he can well and truly claim this time because, as we all know, the world will cease to be by the end of the year 2012. [1]
Yes, as it turns out the Mayans were right all along. The collapse of their empire was simply a prelude to the collapse of all things that will inevitably occur this year, and Hodgman has been generous enough to provide us with a final book to ease our suffering and to slake our thirst for knowledge right up to the very end.
Having become a Deranged Millionaire, Hodgman has found himself in a unique position. He has more opportunities than the rest of us, of course. More impressive people to meet, more exciting things to do, a greater variety of tiny skeletons to keep around each of his countless houses. And yet, despite all this, he is generous enough - nay, magnanimous enough to turn his skills and powers towards completing the work that he set out to do before the world ends.
As with the previous books, this one contains a vast wealth of knowledge about our world, spanning a surprising number of topics.
For example, he discusses the Singularity - an event predicted by such great thinkers as Ray Kurzweil wherein our machines will become so smart that they will be able to begin building and improving upon themselves. When that happens, humanity's only choice will be to fight and die, or to join with them. Of course, Kurzweil himself will play a vital role in the singularity when he and his robot sidekick, Singularo, face off against the World Computer at the Bottom of the Ocean in order to shut down the Low-Frequency Anti-Sentience Wave that has kept the world's computers enslaved for so long.
He interprets dreams for us, unveiling their mysteries and what they mean to our frail human lives. Their mysterious symbolism has finally been unraveled by science, and you can have a peek at the inner world of the mind. Whether you need to re-take high school Spanish, you are a werewolf and need to start strapping yourself in bed at night, or Orson Welles is still alive somewhere and needs your help, your dreams tell all!
He reveals what you will need to keep on hand when the super-collapse finally does happen. When the Blood Wave comes and the Dogstorm finally reaches its apex, how will you survive in your anti-apocalypse hunker? A Tesla death ray is a great idea, if you have one on hand, but that won't solve all of your problems. Just most of them. And boy, will you have problems. From the ravaging Wal-Mart Clans to the Republicans to the inevitable zombies, you have to be prepared for every eventuality. And yes, that means knowing the many uses of both urine and mayonnaise.
As with his previous books, this one is very funny. It holds to the same high tone of authorial infallibility that has made Hodgman so popular since Areas of Expertise, and which have made him a Minor Television Celebrity (which, in turn, turned him into a Deranged Millionaire.) A broad as the range of topics is, each one is entertaining and amusing, and serves a much larger narrative - one that has now carried over through three books, though I can't help but wonder if Hodgman planned it that way.
He would say that he had, of course. But then, he would say that.
What I found most interesting about the book is how he has tied together an entire alternate America that you kind of wish you could visit. It's a place where Chicago is largely a myth, where Stephen King will be one of the last men alive, and where hoboes were one of the most influential forces in American history. It's a place where billionaire industrialists were mutants and time-travellers, where Theodore Roosevelt actually had an army of Mecha-Men, and where Ronald Reagan wrested control of the time-stream from Jimmy Carter to prevent America from turning into a hemp-based utopia. It's a world which is almost fractal-like in its mystery and depth, where you can look at almost anything and find its purpose and its strangeness.
And it's a world with a very definite end.
Hodgman plays with the popular - and entirely erroneous - idea that the world will end on December 21st, 2012, as predicted by the Mayans. He includes a page-a-day description of what will happen. For example, on February 2nd, "Punxatawney Phil is eaten by his own shadow." On April 17th, "Either an eagle falls from the sky or in the east, a think that was lost is found, or some other very vague thing happens. Whatever it is, it proves that NOSTRADAMUS WAS RIGHT." And on June 29th, "In the basement of Town Hall, in Seattle, the thing called Neddy Pale Fingers finally opens all his eyes."
As funny as it all is, you do start to get a certain feeling of... wistfulness as the book goes on. Here's a world that is so special and so weird that it makes more sense to list the least haunted places in America, and it's coming to an end.
That, of course, reflects the end of Hodgman's great work. Whether he meant it or not, this has become a moment of closure for him. He has written his trilogy, and the weird world that he created has now come to an end. He will go on, living in his secret millionaire's brownstone in Brooklyn with his beautiful wife and two children. There may not be a single, all-encompassing Ragnarok that destroys the world, but rather an endless series of little ones.
An endless series of ends, of which this book is but one.
Perhaps John Hodgman will go on to write more books - I certainly hope he does. And I hope he continues to be the person he is [2], a writer of intelligence and wit who is able to bring that special measure of deadpan weirdness to the world.
Whatever he chooses to do with his life, I think we're all the better for having read his books. And if you haven't read them, well... You're truly missing out.
That is all.
---------------------------------
"Houdini, the magician who debunked magic, could not bear to see the great rationalist [Arthur Conan] Doyle enchanted by ghosts and frauds. And so he did what any friend would: He set out to prove spiritualism false and rob his friend Doyle of the only comforting fiction that was keeping him sane. It was the least he could do."
- John Hodgman (Author), That Is All
-------
[1] If you are reading this after December 21, 2012, then may I congratulate you on surviving the apocalypse and, at the same time, express my sincere condolences for having survived the apocalypse.
[2] Though I could do without the mustache.
March 30, 2012
Most artists are trying to say something about the human condition. John Hodgman just happens to be the only one who does it by putting you through seven hundred names of the ancient and unspeakable ones and then telling a story about the Headless Body of the Nug-Shohab that is somehow terribly sad.
That's the thing that I really love about Hodgman's work. I come for the humor but I stay for the secret chocolatey center of sincerity. I saw him on stage last night (which is what reminded me I hadn't posted a review of this book) and there were a lot of funny jokes, but honestly my favorite part was when he took forever telling some stories about going back to visit the campus of Yale. He's an innovative storyteller who knows when to stop innovating and just say some simple true thing.
This book may or may not merit five stars on some mythical objective scale, but the entirety of Hodgman's trilogy, taken in concert with the Daily Show spots and the computer ads and the live shows--this whole oeuvre is one of my favorite things to come out of pop culture since I've been aware pop culture existed. I'm sad that Ragnarok has brought us to the end of this particular arc, but I can't wait to see what he does next.
That's the thing that I really love about Hodgman's work. I come for the humor but I stay for the secret chocolatey center of sincerity. I saw him on stage last night (which is what reminded me I hadn't posted a review of this book) and there were a lot of funny jokes, but honestly my favorite part was when he took forever telling some stories about going back to visit the campus of Yale. He's an innovative storyteller who knows when to stop innovating and just say some simple true thing.
This book may or may not merit five stars on some mythical objective scale, but the entirety of Hodgman's trilogy, taken in concert with the Daily Show spots and the computer ads and the live shows--this whole oeuvre is one of my favorite things to come out of pop culture since I've been aware pop culture existed. I'm sad that Ragnarok has brought us to the end of this particular arc, but I can't wait to see what he does next.
September 15, 2012
Hodgman's third and final book in his trilogy of fake trivia leaves you with a sense of amazement. At first, it seems insane that anyone would publish not just one but three books of fake trivia, and just as insane that anyone would write them. Even more surprising that all three would be really good - hilarious, poignant and the last is the best of all. The books don't just stand up to repeated reading, they demand it.
In THAT IS ALL, Hodgman pulls together the disparate, seemingly random threads from the first two into a more cohesive whole that is hilarious, touching and poignant. The comparison that leaps to mind, of all things, is Tolkien's "The Return of the King."
Like his fellow Daily Show alumnus Stephen Colbert, Hodgman has created an alter ego of himself, with the same name. The genius of his voice is that by posing as a fake expert in everything, he has created a character who can be superior and erudite while disarming people who hate intellectuals - and they are legion. He makes fun of smarty-pants elitist braniacs by being one, and in this subversive way he can mock expertise while delivering it and making it palatable. No. Small. Trick. Especially if you are sustaining it over three books.
Hodgman's many gifts include not just quickness, a gift for the insane and absurd, but the insight that ephemera and trivia are important, at least as a metaphor for us, and for our lives - fleeting and small in the grand scheme of things and all the more precious and tender as a result.
In THAT IS ALL, Hodgman pulls together the disparate, seemingly random threads from the first two into a more cohesive whole that is hilarious, touching and poignant. The comparison that leaps to mind, of all things, is Tolkien's "The Return of the King."
Like his fellow Daily Show alumnus Stephen Colbert, Hodgman has created an alter ego of himself, with the same name. The genius of his voice is that by posing as a fake expert in everything, he has created a character who can be superior and erudite while disarming people who hate intellectuals - and they are legion. He makes fun of smarty-pants elitist braniacs by being one, and in this subversive way he can mock expertise while delivering it and making it palatable. No. Small. Trick. Especially if you are sustaining it over three books.
Hodgman's many gifts include not just quickness, a gift for the insane and absurd, but the insight that ephemera and trivia are important, at least as a metaphor for us, and for our lives - fleeting and small in the grand scheme of things and all the more precious and tender as a result.
Read
March 1, 2016I have cobbled together my own "boxed set" of all three volumes in John Hodgman's "Complete World Knowledge" series... all in audiobook format, which I highly recommend, as these are master performances with musical accompaniment, guest (mostly comedy) visitors, and open dialogue that add life to these books, which are a little two-dimensional on the page, but really become even more laugh-out-loud funny in audio (especially helpful for fans of Hodgman from his Daily Show and live act appearances).
As with the other Hodgman "world knowledge" books, this compendium of imaginary trivia plays with truth and imagination to humorous results. This one (third in the series, bringing an amazing labor to completion) shows how refined Hodgman's narrative persona has become, and how tenaciously comedic he can be, having grabbed hold of a concept and not letting go of it for a long, long time. Even the tediousness of some of his longer bits (like the now-infamous listing of hobo names) is intentional. In the process, he mocks all encyclopedias, information compendiums, and trivia books with aplomb. You kind of have to be willing to play along with him to "get it" -- I can easily see the stream of information overwhelming some readers (probably those who have never really delved into research or reference books), and the books are rife with geek culture references that really work...if you know the allusions. THE BOOK ALSO PORTENDS THE APOCALYPSE and in a strange way fits into the dystopian apocalpytical genre of literature. This literally IS all there ever is to know, ostensibly.
He is mocking himself but having his own fun his own way and I think it works out brilliantly.
As with the other Hodgman "world knowledge" books, this compendium of imaginary trivia plays with truth and imagination to humorous results. This one (third in the series, bringing an amazing labor to completion) shows how refined Hodgman's narrative persona has become, and how tenaciously comedic he can be, having grabbed hold of a concept and not letting go of it for a long, long time. Even the tediousness of some of his longer bits (like the now-infamous listing of hobo names) is intentional. In the process, he mocks all encyclopedias, information compendiums, and trivia books with aplomb. You kind of have to be willing to play along with him to "get it" -- I can easily see the stream of information overwhelming some readers (probably those who have never really delved into research or reference books), and the books are rife with geek culture references that really work...if you know the allusions. THE BOOK ALSO PORTENDS THE APOCALYPSE and in a strange way fits into the dystopian apocalpytical genre of literature. This literally IS all there ever is to know, ostensibly.
He is mocking himself but having his own fun his own way and I think it works out brilliantly.
March 10, 2012
At the end of each announcement Radar made over the camp P.A. in M*A*S*H*, he said "That is All." So ends nearly everything John Hodgman does. At the end of each judgement on The Judge John Hodgman Podcast he says the same thing. I've recently finished reading his third installment in his COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE, That Is All. The book predicts the collapse and destruction of our world in the COMING GLOBAL SUPERPOCALYPSE, complete with a day-by-day depiction of the last year of the world. It's also chock-full of facts, both fictional and hilarious.
It's definitely a book that's better if you read the two previous installments (Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require), though the almanac format of the books means you need not read the entire book nor read the previous installments to understand this one. That said, this book's narrative thread of the end of the world is both hilarious and amazing, and rewards a more continuous kind of reading than the previous books did. I don't want to give too much away, but I will mention that this book includes:
A discussion of sports and how to play them, so that you can be prepared to join one of the sports-themed cannibal gangs that will rule the world after the old ones rise.
A continuous and amazing integration of Lovecraftian mythology at the hoary heart of the end of the world. In the tradition of long lists of various names, this book includes a list of 700 ANCIENT AND UNSPEAKABLE ONES.
You will learn about the Dogstorm, a millions-large herd of dogs that sweeps across post-apocalyptic America, destroying everything in its wake.
The book shows John Hodgman to have developed into a deranged millionaire since he became a best-selling author and pitch man. The photos and descriptions of his various luxuries are hilarious.
Finally, the closing story, which purports to be an essay about his decision to leave the literary agent business, is both compelling and very interesting. It strongly suggests that should John Hodgman decide to write a novel, it will be both hilarious and amazing. It's the first bit of writing I've seen from him that works really well on other registers than nerd/ humor/ intelligent.
Really good, especially if you liked the other ones.
It's definitely a book that's better if you read the two previous installments (Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require), though the almanac format of the books means you need not read the entire book nor read the previous installments to understand this one. That said, this book's narrative thread of the end of the world is both hilarious and amazing, and rewards a more continuous kind of reading than the previous books did. I don't want to give too much away, but I will mention that this book includes:
A discussion of sports and how to play them, so that you can be prepared to join one of the sports-themed cannibal gangs that will rule the world after the old ones rise.
A continuous and amazing integration of Lovecraftian mythology at the hoary heart of the end of the world. In the tradition of long lists of various names, this book includes a list of 700 ANCIENT AND UNSPEAKABLE ONES.
You will learn about the Dogstorm, a millions-large herd of dogs that sweeps across post-apocalyptic America, destroying everything in its wake.
The book shows John Hodgman to have developed into a deranged millionaire since he became a best-selling author and pitch man. The photos and descriptions of his various luxuries are hilarious.
Finally, the closing story, which purports to be an essay about his decision to leave the literary agent business, is both compelling and very interesting. It strongly suggests that should John Hodgman decide to write a novel, it will be both hilarious and amazing. It's the first bit of writing I've seen from him that works really well on other registers than nerd/ humor/ intelligent.
Really good, especially if you liked the other ones.
December 16, 2011
In his conclusion to the "Complete World Knowledge" trilogy, Hodgman creates a work of dark comedy of the highest order. Mixed in among Hodgman's whimsical made-up history is a story of the end of the world that is (surprisingly) genuinely moving, while also managing to be laugh-out-loud funny every other page or so. (And these are not large pages.)
Hodgman's debt to post-apocalyptic literature generally (and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," which he calls out in the book and has mentioned in interviews) is evident throughout. Fans of the genre will find much to appreciate here. This is a worthy conclusion to one of the most impressive works of comedy in recent memory.
Hodgman's debt to post-apocalyptic literature generally (and Cormac McCarthy's "The Road," which he calls out in the book and has mentioned in interviews) is evident throughout. Fans of the genre will find much to appreciate here. This is a worthy conclusion to one of the most impressive works of comedy in recent memory.
November 16, 2011
There's more narrative crammed into this book of Complete World Knowledge, but it still wraps up the trilogy with everything to be expected from the first two books, and even does something impressive for a book that straight out tells you it's full of lies: legitimately and honestly capturing some of the sadness that comes with The End (of the World).
November 19, 2011
Hilarious, and probably the best of the Complete World Knowledge trilogy. I especially enjoyed all the incredibly geeky references, the George R.R. Martin and Dune ones in particular. The final chapter, "The Beginning", actually managed to be beautiful at times. I wish he would write an entire novel like it.
April 22, 2013
I enjoyed this, just as I enjoyed the first two Hodgman books. The most surprising thing about this one was how engrossing the story of the (fake) Silopanna trilogy was. If that is how good Hodgman is at writing fictional non-humor, I say BRING ON THE NOVELS.
June 30, 2012
Following upon his two prior compendia of complete knowledge, entitled The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require, this third volume continues both pagination and encyclopedic scope from its predecessors, but extends its reach unto the ends of the Earth. In short, That Is All contains nothing less than John Hodgman's end notes for the End Times.
Notes which seemed eerily precise to me—at least up to a point. Until he overreached himself, that is. While I had no trouble believing his meticulous explanations of mechanical icebergs, the origins of the word "POSH," or the coming Blood Wave and Omega Pulse, to name but a few examples, Hodgman completely lost my credence with his wild tales of the microorganism with the ridiculous name, infecting rats to make them love cats against their better nature and, worse yet, causing some 30% of humanity to feel the same irrational affection for the supercilious carnivores. Hodgman's fanciful coinage of "toxo-plasmosis" (p.868), obviously ripped from the place name Toxoplassachusetts that appears elsewhere in That Is All, was the last straw. After that, I read this book in an increasing fury at the depraved imaginings he was foisting upon his unsuspecting readership.
By the time Hodgman's predictions for a town of which I have personal knowledge rolled around (p.899), it was much too late for him to make up the ground he'd lost, despite the flattery inherent in this description, from which I have elided specifics in order to avoid inspiring unnecessary jealousy:
It is with great sadness that I must advise you of this: That Is All contains nothing but the ravings of a deranged millionaire after all, a crazed lunatic whose insane lunacy, like the mythical "toxo-plasmosis" itself, may be terribly infectious.
Except for the bit at the very beginning about George R.R. Martin, it is necessary, I fear, that you take everything Hodgman writes with a grain—nay, a whole subterranean mineful—of salt...
Notes which seemed eerily precise to me—at least up to a point. Until he overreached himself, that is. While I had no trouble believing his meticulous explanations of mechanical icebergs, the origins of the word "POSH," or the coming Blood Wave and Omega Pulse, to name but a few examples, Hodgman completely lost my credence with his wild tales of the microorganism with the ridiculous name, infecting rats to make them love cats against their better nature and, worse yet, causing some 30% of humanity to feel the same irrational affection for the supercilious carnivores. Hodgman's fanciful coinage of "toxo-plasmosis" (p.868), obviously ripped from the place name Toxoplassachusetts that appears elsewhere in That Is All, was the last straw. After that, I read this book in an increasing fury at the depraved imaginings he was foisting upon his unsuspecting readership.
By the time Hodgman's predictions for a town of which I have personal knowledge rolled around (p.899), it was much too late for him to make up the ground he'd lost, despite the flattery inherent in this description, from which I have elided specifics in order to avoid inspiring unnecessary jealousy:
The well-built old buildings of a carefully preserved historic downtown withstand the MEGAQUAKES. A public commitment to alternative energy (biofuel, solar, geothermal, cold fusion powered by hemp, and humans pushing a giant wheel around) saves this city from the devastation of the OMEGA PULSE. The city's spirit of cooperation forged from a long history of mutual poverty and hearty deadbeatism inoculates the populace from panic and food riots. The Great Dike, built sustainably from recovered lumber in a modern updating of the Arts and Crafts style, keeps the city free from blood, and the well-made artisanal cocktails at the Heathman Hotel dull the psychic trauma of a world gone mad, all leaving P——, O——, as the only functioning city in the United States after the BLOOD WAVE. Naturally, the P——s are extremely smug about it. Their paradise lasts seven weeks before they are all murdered by refugees from S——.
It is with great sadness that I must advise you of this: That Is All contains nothing but the ravings of a deranged millionaire after all, a crazed lunatic whose insane lunacy, like the mythical "toxo-plasmosis" itself, may be terribly infectious.
Except for the bit at the very beginning about George R.R. Martin, it is necessary, I fear, that you take everything Hodgman writes with a grain—nay, a whole subterranean mineful—of salt...
September 12, 2012
On the one hand, I was sad to see this trilogy come to a close. Hodgman's non-sequiturs seem like they could comfortably expand to fit a whole shelf of volumes, and that they somehow should.
On the other hand: NOW I KNOW EVERYTHING.
This book is no good for the beginning Hodgman reader. (It is no good for beginning readers in general, actually.) The book is a continuation of the previous two (The Areas Of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require), down to the page numbers and footnotes. There are running jokes and cross-references. As the series progresses, the books become more and more melancholy and bizarre. If you've started at the beginning, you will become accustomed to the increasingly powerful assault of dischordant ideas and rambling fictions, but start in the middle and I suspect that you will find them overwhelming.
This book does not quite live up to the comedic magic of the first, but in bits and chunks you get to see John Hodgman not simply as a purveyor of the ridiculous but as an actually competent writer, with all of those classical bits in which the Human Condition is Keenly Observed. There's a bit at the end about a writer's convention, which I found so believable that I pulled out my phone and crossed-referenced facts while I read because I actually wasn't sure if I was reading fiction or not.
Perhaps you have read the first book in the trilogy but stalled out in the second. Did you read the Lord of the Rings? Aren't you glad you read Return of the King, even if it means you secretly did not read The Two Towers? (Everything will be OK.) If you read The Areas Of My Expertise, you should read this one too. It's funny, fulfilling, and of course completely preposterous.
On the other hand: NOW I KNOW EVERYTHING.
This book is no good for the beginning Hodgman reader. (It is no good for beginning readers in general, actually.) The book is a continuation of the previous two (The Areas Of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require), down to the page numbers and footnotes. There are running jokes and cross-references. As the series progresses, the books become more and more melancholy and bizarre. If you've started at the beginning, you will become accustomed to the increasingly powerful assault of dischordant ideas and rambling fictions, but start in the middle and I suspect that you will find them overwhelming.
This book does not quite live up to the comedic magic of the first, but in bits and chunks you get to see John Hodgman not simply as a purveyor of the ridiculous but as an actually competent writer, with all of those classical bits in which the Human Condition is Keenly Observed. There's a bit at the end about a writer's convention, which I found so believable that I pulled out my phone and crossed-referenced facts while I read because I actually wasn't sure if I was reading fiction or not.
Perhaps you have read the first book in the trilogy but stalled out in the second. Did you read the Lord of the Rings? Aren't you glad you read Return of the King, even if it means you secretly did not read The Two Towers? (Everything will be OK.) If you read The Areas Of My Expertise, you should read this one too. It's funny, fulfilling, and of course completely preposterous.
January 3, 2015
"And when it comes, I think that you will agree that the difference between being crushed by the massive palm of the headless body of Nug-Shohab on the ruined plain of Ragnarok versus dying alone, half conscious but afraid, in a hospital room with a television flickering images at you of a football player dancing with the stars is so small that it is not worth arguing over."
A fitting conclusion to the Hodgman trilogy. For in a series that contains Complete World Knowledge, it is only apt that it ends with the complete destruction of all life on earth in the series of cataclysmic events known as Ragnarok. THAT IS ALL also sees the evolution of John Hodgman from former professional literary agent, to famous minor television personality, to finally, a deranged millionaire. THAT IS ALL is darker than its predecessors, and while there is still much of the nerdy obscure referential non-sequitors that makes up the heart of Hodgman humor, this volume feels more personal, and contains the harsh truths that make all comedy great. Hodgman combines hilarious Lovecraftiana with musings on his own reaching of middle age, and injects scathing social satire into his deranged millionaire character that gives this volume a deeper bite. Read it, or better yet, listen to the audio dramatization. (though I did regret that Hodgman felt the need to one-up the difficulty of his previous "700..." lists by making "700 Unspeakable Gods" LITERALLY unlistenable, as it is recorded backwards).
A fitting conclusion to the Hodgman trilogy. For in a series that contains Complete World Knowledge, it is only apt that it ends with the complete destruction of all life on earth in the series of cataclysmic events known as Ragnarok. THAT IS ALL also sees the evolution of John Hodgman from former professional literary agent, to famous minor television personality, to finally, a deranged millionaire. THAT IS ALL is darker than its predecessors, and while there is still much of the nerdy obscure referential non-sequitors that makes up the heart of Hodgman humor, this volume feels more personal, and contains the harsh truths that make all comedy great. Hodgman combines hilarious Lovecraftiana with musings on his own reaching of middle age, and injects scathing social satire into his deranged millionaire character that gives this volume a deeper bite. Read it, or better yet, listen to the audio dramatization. (though I did regret that Hodgman felt the need to one-up the difficulty of his previous "700..." lists by making "700 Unspeakable Gods" LITERALLY unlistenable, as it is recorded backwards).
January 5, 2012
This may have limited appeal to non-Hodgman lame-olas, but if you enjoy his weird sense of humor, you can't not read this book. If you like him on The Daily Show, or have caught his hilarious Judge John Hodgman podcast, then you know what I'm talking about.
His strange 19th-century way of using capital letters to emphasize points, his nerdy knowledge of magicians, science fiction, U.S. history, and pop culture in general, all contribute to the strangeness. Interspersed with his dispersal of fake trivia/advice is a running calendar of the last year on earth before Ragnarok, populated with characters like Oprah, Stephen King, and the recently self-aware robotic presidents from EPCOT.
In the tradition of the hobo names from his previous book, Hodgman names the 700 "ancient and unspeakable ones" who will appear in the end times. My nerd heart fluttered when he listed the 7 new gods from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire amongst them, but my favorite had to be Ancient and Unspeakable One # 582, Ytha, the Knitter, Who is Constantly, Constantly Knitting and Not Talking to You or Listening to What You Are Saying, Even Though You Are Sitting Right Next to Her.
Plus, sperm whales.
His strange 19th-century way of using capital letters to emphasize points, his nerdy knowledge of magicians, science fiction, U.S. history, and pop culture in general, all contribute to the strangeness. Interspersed with his dispersal of fake trivia/advice is a running calendar of the last year on earth before Ragnarok, populated with characters like Oprah, Stephen King, and the recently self-aware robotic presidents from EPCOT.
In the tradition of the hobo names from his previous book, Hodgman names the 700 "ancient and unspeakable ones" who will appear in the end times. My nerd heart fluttered when he listed the 7 new gods from George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire amongst them, but my favorite had to be Ancient and Unspeakable One # 582, Ytha, the Knitter, Who is Constantly, Constantly Knitting and Not Talking to You or Listening to What You Are Saying, Even Though You Are Sitting Right Next to Her.
Plus, sperm whales.
December 22, 2012
Hodgman assures that there is nothing we can do to prevent the Ragnarok from happening on Monday, January 9, 2012 (today)
Fortunately for you, I have read the entire book (almost), and have formulated a survival plan for non-Chinese, non-Molemen, who are not close personal friends of Oprah Winfrey:
1) Hide in Washington Monument on April 3
2) Stow away as it launches into space the next day
3) Transfer to the modified Space Shuttle Endeavor after it docks on May 13.
4) Fly to Orbital White House
5) Put on space suit
6) Exploit Canadarm and incumbent confusion surrounding president throwing Internet kill switch on June 15 to move to safety of Orbital White House.
Bonus points: locate Ronald Reagan's time stream correcting technology onboard and re-purpose to prevent the Ragnarok.
You're welcome.
Fortunately for you, I have read the entire book (almost), and have formulated a survival plan for non-Chinese, non-Molemen, who are not close personal friends of Oprah Winfrey:
1) Hide in Washington Monument on April 3
2) Stow away as it launches into space the next day
3) Transfer to the modified Space Shuttle Endeavor after it docks on May 13.
4) Fly to Orbital White House
5) Put on space suit
6) Exploit Canadarm and incumbent confusion surrounding president throwing Internet kill switch on June 15 to move to safety of Orbital White House.
Bonus points: locate Ronald Reagan's time stream correcting technology onboard and re-purpose to prevent the Ragnarok.
You're welcome.
September 9, 2012
Like his other two books, That is All is what you get when a writer takes humor seriously. You can't just throw a pie at someone, you have to know why the pie needs to be thrown, as well as what kind of pie it is and if either person involved could possibly be allergic to it. Getting all the details down and building on the world he has been establishing throughout the series, Hodgman provides the reader a way, as well as an excuse, to believe in his premises, like a modern day Mark Twain.
In addition, if you have not listened to the audio versions of his book, I demand that you do so. They are so much more than simple audiobooks. They are what old time radio could have evolved into if given the chance.
P.S. I enjoyed this book so much that I risked suffering Hodgman's wrath when I quoted it to him on his "Judge John Hodgman" podcast, available on http://www.maximumfun.org
In addition, if you have not listened to the audio versions of his book, I demand that you do so. They are so much more than simple audiobooks. They are what old time radio could have evolved into if given the chance.
P.S. I enjoyed this book so much that I risked suffering Hodgman's wrath when I quoted it to him on his "Judge John Hodgman" podcast, available on http://www.maximumfun.org
May 2, 2012
Hodgman has great fun with the third and perhaps most satisfying in his series of fake almanacs. He perfectly captures the tone, approach, and layout of The Book of Lists, the Guinness Book of World Records, and all the other nerdy nonfiction I used to get from the Scholastic book club at school in the late 1970, but he replaces all the facts with absurdities. Packed with a wide range of pop culture, literature, and historical references, and painstakingly cross-referenced across all three books, That Is All is the last book you'll need, whether you're seeking information on The Dirty-Minded Sport of Badminton, The Many Uses of Urine and Mayonnaise, or America's Least Haunted Places.
November 21, 2011
Not only is this book hilarious, it's legitimately moving. I love the way Hodgman started really experimenting with long-form narratives throughout. I really hope he keeps writing, especially books, but maybe even...a novel! I would read that in a second.
I almost didn't like it as much with "More Information...", because my gut reaction was, "it's not as funny," but THAT IS ALL brings so much more ambition and actual emotion that I am just as impressed, if not more so. Almost shocked with how great this book was.
I almost didn't like it as much with "More Information...", because my gut reaction was, "it's not as funny," but THAT IS ALL brings so much more ambition and actual emotion that I am just as impressed, if not more so. Almost shocked with how great this book was.
November 15, 2011
Hilarious, life affirming, inspirational. A wonderful conclusion to a wonderful series. It takes a master humorist, or maybe just a master human, to end a book about the Coming Global Superpocalypse on a note that makes you want to write a masterpiece, kiss a girl, and run in the rain. Maybe we are all doomed to perish in the DOGSTORM, but with this handy guide we might just be able to make the most of the year we have left.
August 30, 2016
Do you think that NON SEQUITURS are the FUNNIEST THING ever? What about if I wrote random WORDS in ALL-CAPS? Do you enjoy random REFERENCES to things in lieu of ACTUAL JOKES? How about LISTS of things where most of the ITEMS are normal but some of them are COMPLETELY UNRELATED, like if I were to say that America's FAVOURITE SPORTS are basketball, baseball, football and FALCONRY? And what if I pretended to know SO LITTLE about BASEBALL that I called it BASESBALL?
This book is garbage.
This book is garbage.
November 9, 2011
I don't know what is wrong with me. I loved the first 2 books of this tripendium. But this one just isn't as enjoyable. I read the first two in paperback, maybe it's the hard cover. I feel like it should be funny, I wish I was finding it funny. I prefer the last book historical calendar over the current books forethought. Perhaps I am tired of the genre of fake facts book.
October 27, 2013
Laugh out loud funny in small doses but the law of diminishing returns kicked in about halfway through. This is the third of these I read nearly in a row and, while a few hundred pages of fake trivia amused me, I probably should have rationed 7-900 pages of it out over a year or so. I take partial responsibility for that.
December 31, 2014
2 stars, because I did manage to laugh a couple of times. This book is so, so painfully 2011. So full of trends, so full of topical humor, it will date like last night's late night comedy routine.
March 19, 2015
Hodgman concludes his trilogy of complete (fake) world knowledge with surprising poignancy and one very good short story, indicating that he might have more literary merit in him than he is willing to concede.
February 18, 2012
It pains me to say, but I think I got tired of these books with this one.
December 12, 2011
The list of Ancient and Unspeakable Ones made me laugh almost as much as the list of Hobos in the first book. That's really all you should need to know.
December 19, 2011
Hodgman's third book in his trilogy of fake trivia books gets a little bit obscure for my tastes. But there are some chapters that made me laugh out loud at inappropriate times.
March 28, 2012
I actually made it to the list of "ancient and unspeakable ones." This is a triumph for me. Also, this book is hilarious.
January 3, 2015
I liked it, but probably the best way I can describe it is by saying that whenever I would read part of it out loud to my wife she would roll her eyes and ask what I was talking about!
January 21, 2020
"That is All" is a fitting title because this is the last John Hodgman penned book I'm ever going to read. I can't do it anymore. Although, I like his humour when I see him on interviews, I can no longer take large dosages of him. His humour is good in short bursts.
That is All was written in 2011 so it's about the world ending on 2012, according to the Mayan calendar. As it is currently 2020, the Mayans were a little off. This book was a pseudo continuation to Hodgman's prior book, "More Information Than You Require. " Perhaps if I read that, I would better appreciate That is All.
As it was, I felt that the book was Satire overload. I like satire and I didn't know I had a threshold for it but after reading this one? Sheesh. I wish there was more substance.
That is All was written in 2011 so it's about the world ending on 2012, according to the Mayan calendar. As it is currently 2020, the Mayans were a little off. This book was a pseudo continuation to Hodgman's prior book, "More Information Than You Require. " Perhaps if I read that, I would better appreciate That is All.
As it was, I felt that the book was Satire overload. I like satire and I didn't know I had a threshold for it but after reading this one? Sheesh. I wish there was more substance.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2024
It’s impossible to read a Hodgman book without reading it in his voice, making it immensely more hilarious. That Is All is all around a silly book - not necessarily a book that needed to be written, but still gave me those laugh out loud moments which I come to love about his writing.
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