How to follow Vacationland

January 15, 2018 8:12 PM

I just finished reading Vacationland by John Hodgman and loved it. Looking for humorous memoirs in a similar vein to read next.

I loved Vacationland. I struggle to finish most books these days, but I could not stop reading this one.

I'm looking for other memoirs written in a similar style: funny, sincere, self-deprecating, introspective - while still being an easy, enjoyable read.

I started reading some EB White essays after finishing the book, but it's not quite scratching the same itch.

posted by pilibeen to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

His other books, while not precisely memoir, scratch an itch.

If you are not familiar with the David Sedaris genre, especially in audiobook, you could start with 'Me Talk Pretty One Day.'
posted by Lyn Never at 8:36 PM on January 15, 2018

Best answer: I also loved Vacationland- seconding Me Talk Pretty One Day. There's also a certain kind of charming-travelogue writing that is memoirish that you might like: Bill Bryson is a good example of it. I'd probably try A Walk in the Woods or In A Sunburned Country. Another up the same alley is The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost.

Even further afield would be the non-fiction work of Mary Roach, who is funny in the same kind of way, plays a role in her own non-fiction writing and scratches the same kind of itch. Stiff would be a wonderful introduction to her work.
posted by charmedimsure at 9:20 PM on January 15, 2018 [1 favorite]

Definitely David Sedaris books for sure.

Also I'm Just a Person by Tig Notaro (+1 for her show One Mississippi) and Bossypants by Tina Fey.

Also not a full memoir but similar vibes Twenty-Five Mystery Science Theater Movies that Changed My Life in No Way Whatsoever by Frank Conniff (TV's Frank.)

I just finally got Party of One by Dave Holmes. I've heard good things but haven't read (ahem -listened) yet.
posted by Crystalinne at 12:22 AM on January 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

I haven’t actually read it, but Robert Webb’s memoir had good reviews.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 5:11 AM on January 16, 2018

Best answer: You want Dangerous Animals Club by Hey-Its-That-Guy Stephen Tobolowsky and Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda. Especially in the first case, the first one or two chapters were a bit slow, but it is the first book in a long time where I actually laughed out loud reading it. The second is just a lot of fun.
posted by annabear at 5:13 AM on January 16, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I too just finished that book!

It reminded me of Nick Offerman's stuff (in particular Gumption). I can't put my finger on exactly why, something to do with the pacing, and intelligence.

If you liked the Maine part though, I was given The Lobster Coast one year as a quonsar gift, and it was a tremendously fun read. (I like to learn about alien places, and to a dude from KY, Maine is another planet)
posted by DigDoug at 5:26 AM on January 16, 2018

I got Trevor Noah - Born a Crime for Christmas and it was tear-inducing funny in places. Beyond the humor, it was a really interesting look at what it was like to grow up under apartheid.
posted by COD at 5:30 AM on January 16, 2018

Hodgman's friend Sarah Vowell has several that are very similar in feel (IMO) to Vacationland:

The ones I remember most fondly were Take the Cannoli, The Partly Cloudy Patriot, Assassination Vacation, and The Wordy Shipmates.
posted by uberchet at 7:14 AM on January 16, 2018 [2 favorites]

I just read Vactionland a couple of weeks ago and also loved it. I followed it with Alyssa Mastromonaco's Who Thought This Was a Good Idea, which is scratching a similar itch, and is funny, sincere, self-deprecating, and easy to read. It did provoke some tears of Obama nostalgia at some point. It's a really good book, she's an absolute delight.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 7:18 AM on January 16, 2018

You might also try Heidi Julavits's The Folded Clock - it's a diary/memoir, though more challenging in structure and content than Vacationland. Parts of it are set in what I think must be the same small Maine town - I believe Julavits appears briefly in the auction story in Vacationland.
posted by yarrow at 10:46 AM on January 16, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers. I've read all of Sedaris's & Bryson's stuff so that's covered - should've mentioned that. I think everything else mentioned here is new to me.

I started in on Dangerous Animals Club by Tobolowsky as recommended, and liking it so far. Added a bunch of the other suggestions to a future reading list as well.

Thanks again for the recommendations!
posted by pilibeen at 3:38 PM on January 20, 2018