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Medallion Status

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher:

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0525561102

Both unflinchingly funny and deeply heartfelt, MEDALLION STATUS is a hilarious, thoughtful examination of status, fame, and identity. It s about the weird trauma that comes with success that feels unseemly to discuss (because who will sympathise with you?); about the addiction to status that sometimes (always) follows success; and about the way we all deal with those moments in public and private life when we realise we don t quite have it anymore.

Medallion Status

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2019-10-15

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0525561110

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“[An] affecting and hilarious meditation on fame and prestige as seen through the lens of an airline loyalty program.” —The AV Club A hilarious and honest new book in which John Hodgman, New York Times bestselling author of Vacationland, leaves vacation behind and gets back to work as a still somewhat famous person . . . and then loses his job. An uproarious read. After spending most of his twenties pursuing a career as a literary agent, John Hodgman decided to try his own hand at writing. Following an appearance to promote one of his books on The Daily Show, he was invited to return as a contributor. This led to an unexpected and, frankly, implausible career in front of the camera that has lasted to this very day, or at least until 2016. In these pages, Hodgman explores the strangeness of his career, speaking plainly of fame, especially at the weird, marginal level he enjoyed it. Through these stories you will learn many things that only John Hodgman knows, such as how to prepare for a nude scene with an oboe, or what it feels like to go to a Hollywood party and realize that you are not nearly as famous as the Property Brothers, or, for that matter, those two famous corgis from Instagram. And there are stories about how, when your television gig is canceled, you can console yourself with the fact that all of that travel that made your young son so sad at least left you with a prize: platinum medallion status with your airline. Both unflinchingly funny and deeply heartfelt, Medallion Status is a thoughtful examination of status, fame, and identity--and about the way we all deal with those moments when we realize we aren't platinum status anymore and will have to get comfortable in that middle seat again.

Vacationland

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-10-24

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0735224811

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“I love everything about this hilarious book except the font size.” —Jon Stewart Although his career as a bestselling author and on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart was founded on fake news and invented facts, in 2016 that routine didn’t seem as funny to John Hodgman anymore. Everyone is doing it now. Disarmed of falsehood, he was left only with the awful truth: John Hodgman is an older white male monster with bad facial hair, wandering like a privileged Sasquatch through three wildernesses: the hills of Western Massachusetts where he spent much of his youth; the painful beaches of Maine that want to kill him (and some day will); and the metaphoric haunted forest of middle age that connects them. Vacationland collects these real life wanderings, and through them you learn of the horror of freshwater clams, the evolutionary purpose of the mustache, and which animals to keep as pets and which to kill with traps and poison. There is also some advice on how to react when the people of coastal Maine try to sacrifice you to their strange god. Though wildly, Hodgmaniacally funny as usual, it is also a poignant and sincere account of one human facing his forties, those years when men in particular must stop pretending to be the children of bright potential they were and settle into the failing bodies of the wiser, weird dads that they are.

Do More, Spend Less

Author: Brad Wilson

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2013-01-14

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1118521544

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Achieve stellar savings with the techniques used on bradsdeals.com Do More, Spend Less provides tips, advice, real-world examples, and strategies consumers need to know to compete in the consumer world. Author Brad Wilson, founder of BradsDeals.com, explains the techniques and buying strategies that are used on his site, which have saved 19 million consumers more than $200 million on BradsDeals.com in the past year alone. The majority of deals on his site provide free, or nearly free, products and services. This book provides tips, advice, real-world examples, and strategies consumers need to know to compete in the consumer world. Shares why you should never buy an Apple product from the Apple store Details how to spend three weeks in a suite at the Park Hyatt Paris for $20 Shares the unknown way to clean up your credit report and add at least 20 points to your score The entire basis for thinking about how best to shop, spend, travel, bank—essentially all aspects of being a consumer—has fundamentally changed. The power is now in your hands, and Do More, Spend Less shows you how to master your savings.

The Areas of My Expertise

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-10-02

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1101653612

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In the great tradition of the American almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although bestsellers such as Poor Richard’s Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true. Here is a different kind of handy desk reference, one in which all of the historical oddities and amazing true facts are sifted through the singular, illuminating imagination of John Hodgman—which is the nice way of saying: He made it all up. John Hodgman brings his considerable expertise to bear in answering all of the questions book buyers have been asking: -What are the mottoes of the 51 United States? THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED -Who were the U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands? THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED -What role does the Yale secret society “Skull and Bones” play in the secret world government? THERE IS NO SECRET WORLD GOVERNMENT -What was the menu at the first Thanksgiving, and did it include eels? Technically, that is two questions, but do not apologize, for John Hodgman shall answer them both . . . LATER. -Aside from a compendium of fake trivia, what is the best kind of book to write? A SIMPLE TABLE OF THE 55 MOST DRAMATIC LITERARY SITUATIONS PROVIDES THE ANSWER, and John Hodgman is the author of that table. Imagine if The Book of Lists had been rewritten by Peter Cook and Jorge Luis Borges under the pseudonym of “John Hodgman” and then renamed The Areas of My Expertise, and you will only begin to have a sense of the dizzying, uproarious, sublimely weird, and strangely wise journey that is contained within this book (along with all the pages and words). Perfect for anyone who thirsts for knowledge, and especially for collectors of books of fake trivia, The Areas of My Expertise offers through absurdity a better understanding of the world we share—and recognizes that while the truth may be stranger than fiction, it is never as strange as lies . . . or as true. Look out for John Hodgman's latest book, Vacationland, available from Viking in Fall 2017.

That Is All

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-10-02

Total Pages: 397

ISBN-13: 1101653507

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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. Look out for John Hodgman's latest book, Vacationland, available from Viking in Fall 2017.

She the People

Author: Jen Deaderick

Publisher: Seal Press

Published: 2019-03-05

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1580058728

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A sweeping, smart, and smart-ass graphic history of women's ongoing quest for equality In March 2017, Nevada surprised the rest of America by suddenly ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment--thirty-five years after the deadline had passed. Hey, better late than never, right? Then, lo and behold, a few months later, Illinois followed suit. Hurrah for the Land of Lincoln! That left the ERA just one state short of the congressional minimum for ratification. One state--and a legacy of shame--are what stand between American women and full equality. She the People takes on the campaign for change by offering a cheekily illustrated, sometimes sarcastic, and all-too-true account of women's evolving rights and citizenship. Divided into twelve historical periods between 1776 and today, journalist, historian, and activist Jen Deaderick takes readers on a walk down the ERA's rocky road to become part of our Constitution by highlighting changes in the legal status of women alongside the significant cultural and social influences of the time, so women's history is revealed as an integral part of U.S. history, and not a tangential sideline. Clever and dynamic, She the People is informative, entertaining, and a vital reminder that women still aren't fully accepted as equal citizens in America.

More Information Than You Require

Author: John Hodgman

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2012-10-02

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 1101653493

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The New York Times bestseller by Famous Minor Television Personality John Hodgman—The Daily Show's "Resident Expert" and the "PC" in the iconic Apple ads—picks up exactly where his first book left off. In fact, "the new volume is in every way a continuation of Areas of My Expertise, except in the ways it's clearly superior." (The Onion AV Club) In 2005, John Hodgman published his first compendium of Complete World Knowledge, The Areas of My Expertise, a handy volume of fake trivia and made-up facts. Hodgmania was born. Virtually overnight, John Hodgman was whisked from tweedy obscurity to the high ether of minor celebrity. And from his strange new vantage point as a Famous Minor Television Personality, Hodgman realized that there is some world knowledge yet to be documented. And so he returned to exactly where he had left off—namely, page 256 of the paperback edition of The Areas of My Expertise. And he brought with him: MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE. Which, naturally, begins on page 257. Like its predecessor, More Information Than You Require consists of brief articles, overlong lists, frighteningly complex charts, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes such as: THE PAST (because there is always more of it) THE FUTURE (because they say there is still some left) MOLE-MEN (including a list of 700 Mole-man names) GAMBLING, THE SPORT OF THE ATHSMATIC MAN (including hermit crab racing) CRYPTOGEOGRAPHY (including Canada) HOW TO BE A FAMOUS MINOR TELEVISION PERSONALITY (Hint: Go on television) AND NOW, the relatively pocket-sized and inexpensive paperback edition includes even more. MORE INFORMATION THAN YOU REQUIRE, updated to include the very latest in implausibility. PLUS!: This paperback edition includes a special self-expanding fold-out edition of THE TAXONOMY OF COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE, which you have probably never seen before because it has been carefully hidden. UNTIL NOW. Look out for John Hodgman's latest book, Vacationland, available from Viking in Fall 2017.

Artificial Unintelligence

Author: Meredith Broussard

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2019-01-29

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 026253701X

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A guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology and why we should never assume that computers always get it right. In Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard argues that our collective enthusiasm for applying computer technology to every aspect of life has resulted in a tremendous amount of poorly designed systems. We are so eager to do everything digitally—hiring, driving, paying bills, even choosing romantic partners—that we have stopped demanding that our technology actually work. Broussard, a software developer and journalist, reminds us that there are fundamental limits to what we can (and should) do with technology. With this book, she offers a guide to understanding the inner workings and outer limits of technology—and issues a warning that we should never assume that computers always get things right. Making a case against technochauvinism—the belief that technology is always the solution—Broussard argues that it's just not true that social problems would inevitably retreat before a digitally enabled Utopia. To prove her point, she undertakes a series of adventures in computer programming. She goes for an alarming ride in a driverless car, concluding “the cyborg future is not coming any time soon”; uses artificial intelligence to investigate why students can't pass standardized tests; deploys machine learning to predict which passengers survived the Titanic disaster; and attempts to repair the U.S. campaign finance system by building AI software. If we understand the limits of what we can do with technology, Broussard tells us, we can make better choices about what we should do with it to make the world better for everyone.

Encounters with UFO Occupants

Author: Coral E. Lorenzen

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13:

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