Vacationland

John Hodgman hosts one of my favorite podcasts, “Judge John Hodgman,” in which he adjudicates nerd fights with great hilarity. I also enjoyed the false-fact-purveying John Hodgman of his three earlier books, as well as the deranged millionaire John Hodgman on “The Daily Show.”

And now comes a set of humorous essays from a middle-aged John Hodgman. At each stage in his career, I've felt a kinship to Mr. Hodgman, who is only slightly older, but glories in nerddom with fake superiority in a more creative way than I do/have. Like Mr. Hodgman, I enter pensive periods, reflecting on the sheer ridiculousness or luck or sadness that has lighted upon me.

As we age, vacations become a precious commodity and offer more opportunities to reflect, especially as our parents age or pass away and our children grow up. There are poignant moments encased in Hodgman's hilarious style. Whether imagining the horrors of Dump Jail or neighboring vampires or presenting the realization that you're no longer young and semi-hip, Hodgman delights.

From time to time, Hodgman drifts off of his story and doesn't quite take you where he likely intended to take you (it at least where it seemed like he was heading), and that brought the book down a little. However, this is a very different style from his previous writings, so I expect he'll improve on his next foray into memoirland.