The Areas of My Expertise
An Almanac of Complete World Knowledge Compiled with Instructive Annotation and Arranged in Useful Order

I dunno, maybe I just shouldn't read humour. American humour anyway - British humour I am perfectly capable of sitting down and reading and laughing my ass off. But most American humour, in written form? Not so much. At most, there's a wry smile, a "that was kinda fun." I'm quite sure it would be di......more

I remember reading the cover of Areas of My Expertise when it was first released and being skeptical, unsure if I like Hodgman's tone. Not really knowing who he was, I couldn't tell if his snobbiness was serious. But the text on the cover led me inside the book and soon it was clear: Hodgman was my......more

I learned several important things from The Areas of My Expertise: * it is possible to sell a book of total nonsense * one can put a funny spin on The Great Depression * I should be more suspicious of the large black squirrel population in my home town. I was mildly disappointed that there wasn't more a......more

This book has quite a few moments of pure genius, and some moments of not so funny, although pretty clever ideas. In the McSweeney's realm of humor, and like most of the McSweeney's humor when it works it's really funny, but sometimes you feel like your on the outside of an injoke.......more

I acquired this book through our book club gift exchange and, although I had never heard of it before, thought it would be an interesting read, and it came recommended by some of the members of the club. I tended to read it before going to sleep every night, and perhaps that affected my opinion of i......more