Complete World Knowledge: Difference between revisions

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
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''[[Complete World Knowledge]]'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by John Hodgman ([[Hey, It's That Guy!|aka the PC in the "Mac vs. PC" commercials]]). They include:
''[[Complete World Knowledge]]'' is a critically-acclaimed series of fake almanacks written by John Hodgman ([[Hey, It's That Guy!|aka the PC in the "Mac vs. PC" commercials]]). They include:
* ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]'' - Primarily a parody of ''Poor Richard's Almanack''. It deals largely with hoboes.
* ''[[The Areas of My Expertise]]'' - Primarily a parody of ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]''. It deals largely with hoboes.
* ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'' - Primarily a parody of ''The Book of Lists''. It deals largely with mole-men and presidents of the United States.
* ''[[More Information Than You Require]]'' - Primarily a parody of ''The Book of Lists''. It deals largely with mole-men and presidents of the United States.
* ''[[That Is All]]'' - The conclusion of the trilogy. It deals largely with [[The End of the World As We Know It|Ragnarok]], [[Earthshattering Kaboom|the coming global superapocalypse]], and sports.
* ''[[That Is All]]'' - The conclusion of the trilogy. It deals largely with [[The End of the World as We Know It|Ragnarok]], [[Earthshattering Kaboom|the coming global superapocalypse]], and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|sports]].


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.
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.


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{{franchisetropes}}
'''Although each book has its own page, the series as a whole provides examples of:'''

* [[Berserk Button]]: Sports.
* [[Berserk Button]]: Sports.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
* [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin]]
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]
* [[Historical In-Joke]]
* [[Historical In-Joke]]
* [[Homage]]: Frequent subjects include ''[[Doctor Who]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', and ''[[Watership Down]]''.
* [[Homage]]: Frequent subjects include ''[[Doctor Who]]'', ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', ''[[Star Wars]]'', and ''[[Watership Down]]''.
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* [[Long List]]
* [[Long List]]
* [[Mockumentary]]: In book form!
* [[Mockumentary]]: In book form!
* [[Not Making This Up Disclaimer]]: 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 [[The Areas of My Expertise|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.
* [["Not Making This Up" Disclaimer]]: 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 [[The Areas of My Expertise|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.
* [[Running Gag]]: Various forms of [[Ancient Conspiracy]], [[A Date With Rosie Palms|Masturbation]], eels, and Benjamin Franklin are jokes that carry across the entire series, so far.
* [[Running Gag]]: Various forms of [[Ancient Conspiracy]], [[A Date with Rosie Palms|Masturbation]], eels, and Benjamin Franklin are jokes that carry across the entire series, so far.
* [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche]]: A pastiche of almanacks in general, frequently parodies of specific ones, and occasionally satirical on various subjects.
* [[Satire, Parody, Pastiche]]: A pastiche of almanacks in general, frequently parodies of specific ones, and occasionally satirical on various subjects.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Usually to [[Jonathan Coulton]] (often in the form of a [[Take That]]), members of [[They Might Be Giants]], [[This American Life|Ira Glass]], [[Sarah Vowell]], [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]], and other American intellectual types.
* [[Shout-Out]]: Usually to [[Jonathan Coulton]] (often in the form of a [[Take That]]), members of [[They Might Be Giants]], [[This American Life|Ira Glass]], [[Sarah Vowell]], [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]], and other American intellectual types.
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{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Comic Literature]]
[[Category:Comic Literature]]
[[Category:Non-Fiction Literature]][[Category:Complete World Knowledge]]
[[Category:Non-Fiction Literature]]
[[Category:Complete World Knowledge]]

Revision as of 17:39, 25 June 2021
"The metaphysicians of Tlön are not looking for truth or even an approximation to it: they are after a kind of amazement."
—Jorge Luis Borges

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:

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.

The following tropes are common to many or all entries in the Complete World Knowledge franchise.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Complete_World_Knowledge?oldid=1904394"