Line #3 Literature/MoreInformationThanYouRequire


1	[[quoteright:331:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/more_information_than_you_require_2613.jpg]]
2
3	->''"Every man should be capable of all ideas, and I believe that in the future, he will be."''
4	-->-- '''The Argentine National Poultry and Rabbit Inspector's Little Book of Shitty Aphorisms'''[[note]] WERE YOU EVEN AWARE OF IT? This is an actual quote from "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges. It might help to read this book with Google handy.[[/note]]
5
6	Short for:\
7	''"For your Consideration, The Firms of Dutton & Riverhead Books of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity, Publishers of Ken Follett, Darin Strauss, David Rees, and [[Music/WuTangClan the RZA]], Present in the English Language: A Further Compendium of Complete World Knowledge in "Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise" Assembled and Illumined by Me, Creator/JohnHodgman, A Famous [[Series/TheDailyShow Minor Television Personality]]*, Offering'' '''[[TitleDrop More Information Than You Require]]''' ''On subjects as Diverse As: The Past (As There Is Always More of It), The Future (As There is Still Some Left), All of the Presidents of the United States, The Secrets of Hollywood, Gambling, The Sport of the Asthmatic Man (Including Hermit-Crab Racing), Strange Encounters with Aliens, How to Buy a Computer, How to Cook an Owl, And Most Other Subjects, Plus: Answers To Your Questions Posed via Electronic Mail, And: 700 Mole-Man Names, Including Their Occupations''.\
8	[=*=]''[-Formerly a Former Professional Literary Agent and Professional Writer, AKA "[[Music/TheyMightBeGiants The Deranged Millionaire]]"-]''\
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10	Yes, there is a footnote in the title.
11
12	The second installment of the ''Literature/CompleteWorldKnowledge'' trilogy, following ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'' and succeeded by ''Literature/ThatIsAll''. Not quite sequel to ''The Areas of My Expertise'' so much as it is a continuation. The difference is that if it were a sequel, it would start on page 1, rather than 237. Very similar to the first book in many regards.
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14	Includes some actually true material dealing with Hodgman's life, including reflections on the considerable success he had achieved since the previous book in the saga was published.
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16	Not to be confused with TooMuchInformation.
17	----
18	!!This book provides examples of, and parodies, the following tropes:
19	%%* TheAllegedCar: The cursed Volkswagen Jetta.
20	%%* AncientConspiracy: The Secret World Government, the Freemasons.
21	%%* BeamMeUpScotty ("They Never Said It!") [[invoked]]
22	* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Maybe he was, but Sally Hemmings, Nick Nolte, and Larry the neighbor from ''Series/ThreesCompany'' were mole-men, among many others. WERE YOU AWARE OF IT?
23	%%* BeneathTheEarth: The Mole-Men
24	%%* BigEater: UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft, complete with JabbaTableManners.
25	* CallBack: One of the Mole-Men, "Sssssss the Hisser", is said to have traveled to the surface and [[Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise become a hobo]].
26	* CoolAirship: After the resounding success of ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise'', John Hodgman rides around in a zeppelin called the ''Hubris'', which he bought from Emo Phillips. The ''Hubris'' is also one of the first signs we're [[ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld entering into a strange new world]].
27	* CrossoverPunchline: Many of the footnotes redirect the reader to ''Literature/TheAreasOfMyExpertise".
28	%%* CrystalDragonJesus: The Century Toad
29	%%* DeadpanSnarker
30	%%* DomesticatedDinosaurs: Subverted by the [[{{slurpasaur}} pseudosaurs]] of the Mole-Men.%%How?
31	* EngagingConversation: His response to a female reader's very detailed question about ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' is "Will you marry me?" [[JustForFun/OneOfUs Tellingly, he gives a spot-on explanation of skooma in a clarification footnote.]]
32	%%* EscalatingWar: The increasingly bizarre weather reports coming out of Richmond and Milwaukee.%%Are an example how?
33	%%* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
34	* ExplosiveDecompression: Occurred to Napoleon's lunar cavalry. In a rare tactical misstep by Emperor Bonaparte, he neglected to get protective suits for the horses.
35	%%* FootnoteFever
36	* FunWithAcronyms: "[[CrossesTheLineTwice Juries Often Hate Negroes]] [[RecursiveAcronym John]] or Hodgman Name".
37	%%* GambitRoulette: "How I Did It." Involved are clones with no genitals.
38	%%* GoodScarsEvilScars: The Secrets Of Your Past (And How You Got That Horrible Scar)
39	%%* HistoricalInjoke
40	* {{Homage}}:
41	** ''Film/BladeRunner'' -- if you find replicants hiding in the floorboards, while you can try some commercial products, the only real solution is to hire a professional blade runner.
42	** ''Series/DoctorWho'' - Martin Van Buren was a WMG/TimeLord. Creator/ColinBaker is thanked at the end.
43	** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' -- the two eponymous cities of ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities'' are Cirith Ungol and Orthanc.
44	** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' -- lists "Odo (the 'Shapeshifter')" as a forgotten [[Creator/MarxBrothers Marx Brother]].
45	** ''Franchise/StarWars'' -- a picture of Chewbacca is labelled as Aaron Burr.
46	** ''Film/{{Tron}}'' -- do not install a Master Control Program on your computer.
47	** ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' -- "Bright Eyes" was the best-selling single from Art Garfunkel's ''Songs About Dead or Dying Rabbits'' album.
48	** ''Series/FraggleRock'' -- the Fraggles are all listed as Mole-Men.
49	** ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' -- Hodgman claims to have poisoned Wallace Shawn using iocaine powder.
50	** "Literature/TheLottery" -- Sse the nested Page-a-Day calender entry for June 27.
51	** ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}''-- a baby born with the eyes of a tiger will grow up to be a famous boxer. Or the antichrist.
52	*** "Eye of the Tiger" was actually Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's literary theme song before being appropriated by Creator/SylvesterStallone.
53	** ''Film/RainMan''-- casinos generally provide patrons with an autistic man to help you count cards.
54	** The death of Partridge the astrologer (29 March, 1708) is a reference to one of Creator/JonathanSwift's minor works, the ''Bickerstaff Papers,'' a satire on astrology that begins by predicting this death.
55	* HorseOfADifferentColor: The hideous steeds of the mole-men. There is also a reference to the hideous steeds of the presidents.
56	* HypocriticalHumour: The section on William Howard Taft repeatedly asks us to stop making fat jokes about him, while making some extremely cruel ones of its own.
57	%%* IronicNurseryTune
58	* ItsAWonderfulPlot: Prince Albert, disliked by England for being too German, is seriously contemplating suicide, but then a second-class druid who has yet to earn his golden sickle shows Albert the true meaning of the pagan Yuletide festival. Albert successfully gets RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and becomes a FunnyForeigner.
59	* ItsBeenDone: The long-awaited sequel to ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'' turns out to have the same plot as ''Literature/HarryPotter''
60	* KillItWithFire: If your house in infested with rats, tides, or Scottie dogs. With [[ArtificialHuman Replicants]], you're just going to have to call in a Film/BladeRunner.
61	* LongList: 700 Mole-man names, and an entire chapter entitled "Some Lists I Confess to Compiling". Also subverted in that Hodgman refuses to list all 230 mole-man words for darkness, listing only twelve.
62	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: ''Extremely'' different. Quite a few had [[HookHand hooks for hands]] (though George W. Bush traded his for [[ChainsawGood a chainsaw]] to appeal to the average voter). Very few presidents were black or women.
63	* OverlyLongName: No less than 152 words including the footnote; more if you count the hyphenated words as two separate words and/or expand "RZA" and "AKA" into the words they stand for.
64	%%* MeaninglessMeaningfulWords: The Shitty Aphorisms.
65	* MondegreenGag: Music/TomWaits sings in werewolf language, so you can pretend he's singing about whatever you like!
66	* OldShame: InUniverse, the Mole-People would rather not discuss the period during which they had "nabbers" who specialized in kidnapping human children. Hodgman insists on putting one of them, "Miss Mavis Humanchildstealer", in his list of Mole-Men and their occupations, because like it or not, "it happened".
67	* OminousOwl: Not to worry, you can cook them. But first you need to dominate them with your stare and remove their clockwork innards.
68	* ProductPlacement: Parodied when Hodgman describes his purchase of an [=iPod=] cable at great length. In the section on buying a computer, he also insists on avoiding the term "PC".
69	* RaisedByWolves: Music/JonathanCoulton, most prominently, but others include Rudy Giuliani and Creator/WernerHerzog.
70	* RunningGag: Everywhere, including subjects such as Masturbation (still), eels, turkeys, Benjamin Franklin, shitty aphorisms, Yale University's controversial Feline Studies, unusual precipitation, Emo Phillips, [[HairTropes ponytails]], Percocet (a powerful narcotic), and falconry.
71	%%* SecretLegacy: Esperantans vs. the Bush dynasty
72	%%* SelfDeprecation: "I am married. Wait, it gets better."
73	* ShoutOut: The Acknowledgements at the end. Included are [[Music/TheyMightBeGiants John Flansburgh and John Linnell]], [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]], Creator/JustinLong (a Mac), [[Series/DoctorWho Colin Baker]], Sarah Vowell, Ira Glass, Ricky Gervais, and others.
74	%%* ShownTheirWork
75	* {{Slurpasaur}}: Parodied. The mole-men ride on giant iguanas that they think are DomesticatedDinosaurs.
76	* StrawmanPolitical: An argument with someone who insists that mole-men were created by the Century Toad, while it's been scientifically proven that they evolved from mole-apes. In an interesting twist, however, this person is portrayed as quite a polite debater, if very very incorrect. In the audiobook, this role is taken by Creator/PaulRudd.
77	* StupidSexyFlanders: Creator/KurtRussell, whose [[EyepatchOfPower eye has grown back]] after he [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork escaped from New York.]]
78	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Hodgman most definitely does ''not'' have circus elephant's [[BrainInAJar brain pickled in a jar]]
79	%%* {{Tagline}}: New [[WeaselMascot ferret]], same old con.
80	* TakeThat: Music/JonathanCoulton remains a target, and has now upgraded to ''killing'' cats. Creator/NickNolte is now listed as one of the mole-men, and Creator/BenjaminFranklin remains a figure of derision.
81	%%* ThreateningShark: The brain sharks.
82	* TheUnfettered: "Declarationists" are molemen and molewomen who declare themselves free from all moleman laws and live on their own, doing whatever is necessary to survive. Their willingness to buck authority and do what they felt proper inspired the Declaration of Independence.
83	* UnstuckInTime: Hodgman reveals that one presidential candidate would become unstuck in time during the (at the time) upcoming 2008 election cycle. The paperback reveals that this was John Mccain, who transported back to {{Prehistoria}}.
84	* TheVirus: Do not look at an axolotl for too long, or you will become one. This is also a ShoutOut to a fairly obscure short story by Julio Cortázar (which you can read [[https://www.bolles.org/uploaded/2016-17_Summer_Reading/Upper_School/Sophomore_Summer_Reading/Axolotl_Cortazar.pdf here]]).
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Context Literature / MoreInformationThanYouRequire