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Vacationland

True Stories from Painful Beaches

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Vacationland

Written by: John Hodgman
Narrated by: John Hodgman
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About this listen

 “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. Entertainment & Celebrities North America United States Celebrity Maine Comedy Wilderness
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A very funny and touching book. I would recommend it whether or not you're familiar with John Hodgman's comedy.

Really Wonderful

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I loved this book! I listened to it at work and at times found myself having to stifle a giggle or wipe away a tear.

Storytime with my favourite weird dad

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Really good. If you like Hodgman you'll like this book. If you don't know Hodgman, try this book anyway.

Highly recommend

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Hodgman is a delight, and his delivery of his own words is wonderful. I have enjoyed everything I've read of his so far, as well as books he didn't write but he did read. I'm looking forward to more!

Hilarious

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I love John Hodgman. He seems like the kind of guy you could be friends with at any age. He has a way of being introspective and humorous at the same time. He's firm in what he believes to be correct- "a hotdog is not a sandwich" no matter what the Merriam-Webster dictionary says, but also "people like what they like" and that's okay too.

I listen to John's podcast- Judge John Hodgman on Maximumfun.org, I've listened to all of his books (and all the books he narrates), and I can tell you that this is my favourite. While his other books are funny in their own rite, this book is personal. For the first time I know of, he's shared his personal moments with his audience. He seems to have always been very protective of his family, and I very much love that he is willing to share his thoughts with us.

As a middle aged white man with weird facial hair, you might think that he has nothing to offer you, but what is great about John is that he makes room at the table. Not only does he make room but he politely tells other white men to kindly shut their mouths. I appreciate his insight, the love he has for the people and things around them. He gives you permission to geek out about Dungeons and Dragons, Game of Thrones and Sci-Fi.

I will absolutely be listing to this one more than once. His performance of Vacationland makes it SO SO great. His voice is calming and his timing and emphasis makes it even better.

#audible1

I want John Hodgman to be my weird dad

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