John is a very smart guy. He graduated from Yale with a degree in literary criticism and is a contributor to the New York Times Magazine. These days, he pretty much makes a living off of being a huge nerd. This book reflects that rather accordingly. The book itsself is a compilation of "facts" that are admittedly completely false. It's written in the style of an almanac or reference book which is a fresh stance for a humor book but also the downfall of the whole thing.

John's facts take the form of lists, tables, and short summaries and cover a wide array of individualized topics including dramatic situations, actuaries with tattoos, hoboes, and all kinds of squirrels. There is one particularly famous part of the book where he lists 700 hobo names. Some of the better ones include Sherlock-Holmes-Hat Carl III, Feminine Forearms Rosengarten, and Bean-Hoarder Newt. But aside from the lists and tables which are good for quick laughs, the book is incredibly dry, as you would expect an alamanac to be. The longer pieces require all of your concentration to read because if you don't pick up on the subtlety that inhabits most of the pages, it won't be funny at all to you. You constantly have to weigh the information presented against your own basic knowledge of the subject for this book to make you laugh.

I think that this book is a definite buy for an Ivy League type who thinks he or she is too smart to enjoy the trivialities of more conventional media. But, maybe people aren't as stupid as they seem these days: believe it or not this is a New York Times bestseller.