History Literature / CompleteWorldKnowledge

* ViewersAreGeniuses: Read these books. Then take a year's worth of university courses. Then read them again. It's a wholly different experience.

* RunningGag: Various forms of AncientConspiracy, [[ADateWithRosiePalms Masturbation]], eels, and Benjamin Franklin are jokes that carry across the entire series, although he tones down the masturbation jokes in the latter volumes.

''Complete World Knowledge'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by Creator/JohnHodgman (aka the PC in the [[Advertising/GetAMac "Mac vs. PC"]] commercials). They include:

* TakeThat: Frequent attacks on Music/JonathanCoulton, Creator/BenjaminFranklin, Creator/BruceCampbell and NickNolte. Hodgman and Coulton are actually great friends, and Hodgman was the man who got Bruce's bestselling book "If Chins could Kill" published back in his days as a literary agent, but he seems to genuinely dislike Franklin.

''Complete World Knowledge'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by John Hodgman (aka the PC in the [[Advertising/GetAMac "Mac vs. PC"]] commercials). They include:

* BerserkButton: Sports.

* DeadpanSnarker
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin
* HistoricalHilarity
* HistoricalInjoke

* LongList
* {{Mockumentary}}: In book form!

* ShownTheirWork: Ironically enough

* ShortTitleLongElaborateSubtitle: The first two books only.

->''"The metaphysicians of [[Literature/TlonUqbarOrbisTertius Tlön]] are not looking for truth or even an approximation to it: they are after a kind of amazement."''\\
--'''''[[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Poor Richard's Almanack]]''''', 1733 edition [[note]] well, not really.[[/note]]

''Complete World Knowledge'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by John Hodgman (aka the PC in the "Mac vs. PC" commercials). They include:

* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: Inverted. Each books starts with a reminder that John Hodgman ''is'' making this up. Although he has insisted that one blurb on the back of [[TheAreasOfMyExpertise the first book]], a letter of praise from a magus of the Church of Satan, is, in fact, genuine, although Hodgman himself is not a Satanist.

* {{Homage}}: Frequent subjects include ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', and ''WatershipDown''.

* TakeThat: Frequent attacks on Music/JonathanCoulton, Creator/BenjaminFranklin, and NickNolte. Hodgman and Coulton are actually great friends, but Hodgman seems to genuinely dislike Franklin.

''Complete World Knowledge'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by John Hodgman ([[HeyItsThatGuy aka the PC in the "Mac vs. PC" commercials]]). They include:

* {{Homage}}: Frequent subjects include ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''StarWars'', and ''WatershipDown''.

* WeaselMascot

* TakeThat: Frequent attacks on JonathanCoulton, Creator/BenjaminFranklin, and NickNolte. Hodgman and Coulton are actually great friends, but Hodgman seems to genuinely dislike Franklin.

->''"The metaphysicians of [[Literature/TlonUqbarOrbisTertius Tlön]] are not looking for truth or even an approximation to it: they are after a kind of amazement."''
-->-- ''[[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Poor Richard's Almanack]]'', 1733 edition [[note]] well, not really.[[/note]]

* ShoutOut: Usually to JonathanCoulton (often in the form of a TakeThat), members of TheyMightBeGiants, [[ThisAmericanLife Ira Glass]], SarahVowell, [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]], and other American intellectual types. And Creator/BruceCampbell.

-->-- ''[[Creator/BenjaminFranklin Poor Richard's Almanack]]'', 1733 edition [[hottip:*: well, not really.]]

Known for their absurdist sense of humour, bizarre running jokes and high degree of cohesion between volumes, absolutely deadpan writing style, and sheer breadth of subject matter, ranging from cheese to axolotls to aliens to hoboes to mole-men to celebrity status to zeppelins to lobsters to ancient and unspeakable ones.

* {{Homage}}: Frequent subjects include ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''TheLordOfTheRings'', ''StarWars'', and ''WatershipDown''.

* ShoutOut: Usually to JonathanCoulton (often in the form of a TakeThat), members of TheyMightBeGiants, [[ThisAmericanLife Ira Glass]], SarahVowell, [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]], and other American intellectual types. And BruceCampbell.

* ShoutOut: Usually to JonathanCoulton (often in the form of a TakeThat), members of TheyMightBeGiants, [[ThisAmericanLife Ira Glass]], SarahVowell, [[TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]], and other American intellectual types. And BruceCampbell.