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So, chances are that many of you might easily recognize the face, but not necessarily know the name. John Hodgman — book author, McSweeney’s scribe, NPR commentator, Daily Show Resident Expert, and What Book Got You Hooked? contributor – also just happens to be “that guy on the Mac commercials.” You know… the charmingly bespectacled, slightly nerdy one.
But what you, dear readers, may also not know about “La Hodge” (note: you read that here first) is that the man has A Following. A big one. Call it “Hodgmania,” if you will. And nowhere was that more in evidence than last night at the reading and signing of his latest literary offering, More Information Than You Require (Dutton Adult), at Politics and Prose bookstore here in the district.
Let’s just say there were people. Lots and lots of people. More people than an author signing requires. There was, of course, the expected Mac-worshipping, NPR-loving, McSweeney’s-reading types in attendance. But I would venture to say that there might have been a few PC users who braved the crowd as well. Especially the guy who came up to the microphone and posed the question: “Do you think we look alike?” (The answer was yes, so La Hodge #2 came up to the podium and took a photo with his doppelganger, to the crowd’s amusement.)
Hodgman clearly brings out the multi-platform nonpartisan in everyone — not to mention the quirky, the obscure, and the vaguely wacky. Questions following his reading included queries such as “Help settle a bet with my girlfriend: What is more funny: a cream pie or a fruit pie in the face?” and something that had to do with zombie killing techniques (a roundabout reference to Hodgman’s past role as the literary agent who convinced zombie actor nonpareil, Bruce Campbell, to publish.) Oh, and there was the guy who asked the Foucault-based question about the nature of truth, which of course Hodgman answered (he is, after all, a literary theory grad from Yale and a professional. I’m sure he’s had to answer such questions before at say, the annual MacWorld conference.)
When we finally reached our personal Everest — the table where La Hodge was seated – he was as delightful, gracious, and well dressed as he had appeared to be when I tried to peer around the guy with the Seth Rogen hair who sat in front of me during the talk. The poor man had been signing for almost three hours by that point (which actually allowed us to leave the line temporarily, enjoy a leisurely dinner next door, and finish Ulysses upon our return.) But he still kindly listened to us as we tried to explain why we were, in fact, NOT getting a booked signed by him, but actually giving him a book as a thank you for being a part of First Book’s What Book Got You Hooked? campaign this year. (Which is why, in the photo on display, he’s holding a Tin Tin book and not actually his own.)
If you want to find out more about the mysteries of Tin Tin and his significance to John Hodgman, click here.
If you would like to find out more about Bruce Campbell, click here.
If you would like a good recipe for a cream pie (the winner of the bet), click here.
You have now been given more information than you require.
That is all.
