Medallion Status

As a weird, only child from coastal Maine with a job I love that sends me traveling all over the country, the book makes me feel very seen. From observations about the video game / faux-family psychology of airline frequent flyer programs and becoming a “regular” at a hotel (and the simultaneous exhiliration and alienation of an itinerant lifestyle) to John Hodgman's life lessons from odd jobs, this memoir has a lot of insights that I related to. This book made me think critically about my own life in the way a great memoir can.

And to clarify, although this book is hyper-relatable for my own weird life, the book's larger messages - about kindness, empathy, curiosity, and being open to adventures but also honest with yourself and not letting yourself get too carried away from the relationships that really matter in your life - are much more universal.

John Hodgman's podcast, “Judge John Hodgman,” is one of my favorites. And I always enjoyed his”Daily Show” appearances along with his ridiculous fake trivia trilogy. But, I found “Medallion Status” less than enthralling. It just doesn't seem that the esteemed Judge had his heart in this book and would have better spent his time writing a book about why a hot dog isn't a sandwich.

I'm a huge fan of John Hodgman's podcast, and I was extremely eager to read this book. I love books of humor and books about travel, particularly dull, work-related travel since it's so much more relatable and so much less enviable than the travel people tend to write about.

I was surprised to see how closely Hodgman's voice on the page mirrored his voice on the podcast and disappointed that it didn't quite work for me. While there were plenty of laughs, a lot of the humor felt quite awkward. Watching improv comedy can be fun, but reading the transcript of an improv sketch? Less so. This was most pronounced in Hodgman's use of fake dialogue, which was pretty jarring in parts and consistently undercut genuinely humorous situations. These asides work well in audio comedy, where they're aided by Hodgman's inflection and a giggling, kindly co-host, but including them here felt like a disservice to the reader. The world is funny enough as it is; why resort to injecting your reimagining of it?

Overall, this book was a lot of fun to read and I really appreciated the moments of sincerity and vulnerability, which are plentiful. I already know which essays I'll think back to, and they're the ones that have nothing to do with points and everything to do with people. My favorites are: the one about pets, the one about jobs, and and the one about the election. I'm now really looking forward to reading Vacationland, since my impression is that it's an even more personal and humanistic work.