Part travel-log, part memoir, John Hodgman’s Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms is sure to be a hit with fans of his previous work, Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches. This work focuses primarily on his acting career, with particular attention paid to the people, places, and odd situations he found himself in as a result.
Pros:
- Hodgman’s affable, if self-effacing style returns in Medallion Status. While I wouldn’t call any of the jokes, “gut busters,” this work does provide a steady stream of laughs. His writing and presentation style reminded me a touch of Andy Rooney in the way that he reflected on his life, fame, and career trajectory.
- I can’t say any essay hit me as hard emotionally as some of the essays from Vacationland, but it was still enjoyable to spend a few hours with John Hodgman.
- No individual chapter is longer than 45 minutes, and each of the chapters are reasonably self-contained. This means that it is easy to digest the book in smaller bites if you so wish.
Cons:
- I don’t consider it a con, but fans of the current presidential administration will likely not be a fan of a few of the later chapters.
- I could see how some may tire of John’s self-effacing attitude and the honesty with which he appears to present his neuroses. For me, I found they made him more relatable as an author, and my reaction to said neuroses never rose to the level of frustration that I felt with Marc Maron’s Attempting Normal.
- (Nitpick) While I understand and respect Hodgman’s withholding of the location of his home in Maine and the name’s of the town’s residents, this same withholding makes less sense to me with regards to the airline referenced in the title of Medallion Status. Hodgman himself points out it is just an internet search away and reveals the name at the tail end of the book (spoiler alert: it’s Delta).
Conclusion:
This book is much more focused on Hodgman’s career and fame than Vactationland. I appreciate that it can balance the serious, the absurd, and the funny parts of celebrity (and its waning). I applaud Hodgman for his approach to comedy, which includes both a conscience and an awareness of the privilege associated with being a straight, white, wealthy man. Finally, I am excited to see what Hodgman will come out with next.
Check it out here.
You may also enjoy…
- “Vacationland,” by John Hodgman
- “Bossypants,” by Tina Fey
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