I arrived home from school today feeling sick (probably from eating Taco Bell a day earlier) and remarkably annoyed. Without going into any of the gruesome details, I'd like to mention that school today included a two-hour session on "dining etiquette" and an hour of some old guy on a computer, for lack of a better term, fucking around with charts and graphs in Excel.
So, when I found out that John Hodgman was doing a book signing at Book Soup in Hollywood tonight, I was thrilled to think about anything other than having to go to school tomorrow. I've had his book for a little while and have heard him on NPR and on Comedy Central a great deal, so I knew the entertainment portion of the evening should be at least marginally stimulating.
With Book Soup being neighbor to the now famously shipwrecked Tower Records (this particular location on Sunset is apparently selling for thirteen million dollars), I decided to stop in to take advantage of the free parking, and possibly find some hidden gem. Unfortunately for Tower -- and I'm not an executive here, so I guess my opinions are shrouded in ignorance -- not very many people will be inclined to help the company liquidate their assets at $13.49 per cd oh-so-generously marked down from $14.99. Zines and books are 30% off, but even the most thoroughly-stocked Tower location carries about fourteen titles (thirteen of which are either about the Beatles or by Nick Hornby). Long story short, I didn't buy anything (which technically meant by walking to the bookstore, I was now parking illegally. To ruin the suspense for you - nothing happened to my car).
John Hodgman stepped to the podium with a ruggedly-dressed acoustic guitarist (coonskin hat included) in tow performing Hodgman's "theme song." Hodgman continues early in his talk that to be a true writer, all you really need is stationery that has your name followed by ", writer" and a theme song. He spoke for about 45 minutes, shifting between some passages in Areas..., along with some accompanying anecdotes and information (term used loosely). One of the quirkiest moments, however, was the twenty minute Q&A session that he conducted entirely via walkie-talkie. Someone from the doorway asked about Hodgman's role in Bruce Campbell's book If Chins Could Kill (he was the literary agent), and someone standing in the biography section asked if Hodgman had a problem with people taking him seriously (his response: "It sort of goes with the territory when you're always lying"). He refused to answer questions that did not end with the word "over."
Now, I don't attend book signings often, so I can't say whether this is normal, but any event at a bookstore that involves engaging humor, walkie talkies and an acoustic show at the end sounds good to me. The guitarist (who I have just now discovered was named Jonathan Coulton) performed one solo tune after Hodgman was done speaking. He introduced it by saying "this is a song about a girl that dumped me. It's called Skullcrusher Mountain."
At the end of the whathaveyou, I got Hodgman to sign my copy of the book (he wrote "Nice suit, Kevin" and then crossed out his name in the book and rewrote it. It would seem more amusing if it weren't so obvious that he's done that in every copy of the book he's signed).
I recommend both the book, and the book tour, if it comes through your town. If nothing else, remember that book signings are always free.
