Boing Boing tv: John Hodgman, "More Information Than You Require."

John Hodgman is known throughout galaxies far and wide for transcendent wit and bookish LOLs. You may know him from the Apple ads, the Daily Show hijinks, his blog, or his book, Areas of My Expertise (Amazon link), which begat the Internet Hobo Craze of The 21st Century.

What you may not yet know about him is this: he has a new book coming out October 21, 2008, titled More Information Than You Require (Amazon link).

The new compendium will include mole men. And, frankly, it's pretty sweet. We visited with him during a hotel hole-up at the Chateau Marmont, and interrupted his writing flow. He forgave us, and offered us a ham sandwich with some Soylent Green. Please to be watching.

Link to Boing Boing tv post with downloadable MP4 file, and instructions on how to subscribe to the BBtv video podcast in Miro, iTunes, and other tools.

(Ed. note: We aired a mole-man-centric cut of this visit late last year, but we're revisiting again to reveal more undiscovered Hodgmanic goodness. Stay tuned for all-new fun with this guy, planned soon.)

• [edosan]

  I’m excited to see that John Hodgman has a new book, but this time I’ll wait for the “now with more material!” paperback version, like I should have for the first one.

• [Tavie]

  Xeni, have you ever done improv? You’re very receptive. You seem like you’d be excellent and improvisational comedy.

  I am not an expert, never having done it myself. Just an observation from a layman. Or a laymanic woman.

• [jasonhsewell]

  Love the cover of the book. It reminds be very much of the label on a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap. Can’t help but wonder if Hodgman’s choice of cover is meant to evoke the same sense of “craziness” as the soap’s creator.

  http://www.drbronner.com/dr_bronners_philosophy.html

• [ZippySpincycle]

  Maddy@3, who do you think commissioned the assassin drone that Hodgman mentions?

• [themindfantastic]

  Xeni, this is very reminiscent of Crispin Glover on Late Night with David Letterman… he wasn’t giving you much traction there… which I suspect he quite rather enjoyed. But congrats, you were able to get some usable material! Not that he made it easy.

• [mostlymuppet]

  Hodgman gave away free copies of an advance reader’s pamphlet version of More Information Than You Require via a Twitter ploy earlier this year: http://www.mostlymuppet.com/2008/09/02/hodgman-twitter-and-signed-copies/

• [Patrick Nielsen Hayden]

  If he’s being published by Dutton, why is he being photographed in front of our (Macmillan’s) Flatiron Building? This seems wrong.

  I’ll just have to content myself with having had Mr. Hodgman sit down to breakfast three feet away from me at BookExpoAmerica this year, launching himself into a lengthy and hilarious monologue directed at his two companions, which I struggled to not look like I was enjoying overhearing. John Hodgman is a mighty rocking thing.

• [Agies]

  @6 I’m fairly certain that it’s all a joke that Xeni was in on.

• [Jack]

  @#3 MADDY:
  I’m pretty certain nobody cares either way. Bill Gates didn’t become a gajillionaire because he was self-conscious of people mocking him. Look at him? He’s always been who he is and he’s rich.

• [franko]

  i love mr. hodgman. that is all.

• [usonia]

  I keep seeing Mr. hodgeman at the local supermarket. We’re beginning to suspect he either lives in the area or does an inordanite amount of his shopping in Western Mass.

• [macisaguy]

  i’m a big fan of the Hodg Man. Here though, he was seemingly far further off the beaten path than normal. It was kind of uncomfortable.

  Reminds me of a modern And Kauffman of sorts.

  Worth being uncomfortable for. Also, looking forward to the audio book. Something about listening to hundreds of hobo names in traffic is insanely soothing. And I mean that close to literally.

• [Stu Mark]

  I am a huge fan of David Wallechinsky’s work, so it was super-thrilling to see the almanac on Hodgman’s bed. John Hodgeman is truly a world-class wit in the Will Rogers sense, and I’m hoping that more folks get exposed to his brain. And to Wallechinsky’s brain. “I can do without a ham sandwich.” – Xeni, your grace is unparalleled.

• [Anonymous]

  Hodg was using a Mac!

• [glenn_sccc]

  October 21, 2008
  7:00 PM
  Author Event
  John Hodgman: More Information Than You Require
  Humor Barnes & Noble Booksellers
  Union Square
  33 East 17th Street
  New York, NY 10003
  212-253-0810

  November 19, 2008
  7:00 PM
  Author Event
  John Hodgman: More Information Than You Require
  Humor Barnes & Noble Booksellers
  Buckhead
  2900 Peachtree Road NE Suite 310
  Atlanta, GA 30305
  404-261-7747

• [thekinginyellow]

  i can’t wait for his new book! i’m so happy to know that there is one. i might be even more happy when the audio book is released for free on itunes so i can hear his voice for 4 to 6 plus hours while driving to and from work.

• [Maddy]

  #9 — really Jack, you know the inner-workings of a ka-jillionaire’s mind? I was simply positing, and to clarify — my point is not remedied by the old bromide of “not caring what people think” (because we all do on some level) — it’s rising to the level of mocking as it effects Bill Gates’ business. And in my limited time on the planet, people who are ka-jillionares tend to care very much about their business …

• [themindfantastic]

  @8 AGIES : Well if so I certainly fell for it then ;).

• [Guesstimate Jones]

  Kraut Fire? Is that a band?

• [Halloween Jack]

  “New ferret, same old con.” Sold.

• [Maddy]

  funny. I wonder if this guy worries that Bill Gates wants to come up and punch him (or more realistically, hire someone to punch him). Despite all the Gates-is-lame blah-blah — I mean, if I had accomplished and gotten as rich as Bill Gates is, I’d prolly have a serious ego — and here’s this guy mocking me on ads? Could you imagine what John D. Rockefeller would have done to some competition mocking him thusly?