I like John Hodgman. I dig his quirky, off-beat humor. I LOVE his history of hobos video done in the style of Ken Burns documentary. After reading this book, I like him even more.
In Vacationland, Hodgman talks about his life and his family and how and where he finds himself today. He is a little older than I am, so a great deal of the experiences, especially those with family are things that I am starting to face with my own family. One point that he made, that has stuck with me for months is that he, as a father and a successful humorist, has reached the apex of life and his struggle to accept that nearly everything he will do in life, he has already done and that his purpose now is passing on that information. While that sounds really pessimistic, I don’t think it is. I am in my late 30s and there are a myriad of things that I want to do in my life but I know that I probably will not do them all. For example, I love teaching, I love helping people, I am fascinated by medicine and law, I brew beer. I cannot do all of those things professionally no matter how bigs my dreams are and how powerful my work ethic may be. That is ok. I am very happy with the choices I have made in my life and I wouldn’t change any of them, so to speak. We all get older and I really liked the way that Hodgman talked about and about those who try so hard to hang on to youth. He called himself a humorist and I really like that term but it was nice to have him talk me through that next stage of life. I am in no way doing this delightful book justice. If you like Hodgman, you should really read it.
this book is so good! I was amazed by how poignant it was! if you have not done so already, you HAVE to read (or listen to) Medallion Status!
I will! And I agree. This book, while very funny, is so much more than that. It’s so well done!
I cried more than once, but I also have adopted “call the pipe daddy” as my go-to phrase for “uh, we need a professional”