Hodgman was a staff writer for
The Daily Show and regular contributor
This American Life. He's a practiced story teller and genuinely funny guy.
Vacationland is a memoir of how he came to own a house in the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts and then another home in down east Maine even while owning an apartment in Brooklyn. There are lots of humorous accounts of how one learns to cope with owning an old house: sneaking your way into the town dump; facing off brave raccoons; plugging your own septic system with ancient cheerios. The saving grace for this quick read is Hodgman's full understanding of the privilege afforded him by his wealth and whiteness. Owning more than one home, vacationing in Maine among the prep school set, or simply walking in western Mass or coastal Maine while being black he lets us know is not a choice most people of color ever get to make. In a subtle way, Hodgman is the joker speaking truth to power.
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