It must have been the Christmas of 1977. Someone in my family received "The Book of Lists" as a Christmas present. The book was a catalog of completely random trivia. Despite being a mere lad, I fell instantly in love with the arcane information that the book presented. Without this book it is doubtful that I would have known that a flock of crows can accurately be described as a "murder of crows"...and was I the only 4th grader that needed to know that Judy Garland's birth name was Frances Gumm?
In the intervening years I have amassed a vast storehouse of certifiably useless trivia. Because of that, reading Jim Hodgman's "The Areas of My Expertise" was even more pleasurable. Hodgman, now a "resident expert" on The Daily Show, creates a fictional body of knowledge that is so funny, several times I was literally in tears. I challenge anyone to read his list of 700 Hobo Names without needing to take a break to regain their composure.
This is easily the most laugh-outloud book I have read since the David Sedaris Era began.
Jim Hodgman
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