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A review by dmaurath
Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman
5.0
So much better than Green Lights. That might not be the comparison you expected but let me explain. I hated Matthew McConagheys anachronistic list of life lessons for immature white males and how completely unself-aware it was. Vacationland is in complete contrast, a quite self-aware, more mature, and far better written memoir of a white male Gen Xer.
Hodgman recognizes his privileged upbringing often and explores it as a reoccurring theme throughout his book. Then its more mature because he uses bullies as an opportunity to teach his son resilience, unlike Green Lights where McConaghey implicitly endorses violence. Finally, Hodgman is an author who did some acting, not an actor trying to be an author, so his writing is naturally much much better.
My only small complaint with this book is that Hodgman revisits a tired joke about country people trying to kill city people a few too many times. It quickly becomes unnecessary hyperbole.
Hodgman recognizes his privileged upbringing often and explores it as a reoccurring theme throughout his book. Then its more mature because he uses bullies as an opportunity to teach his son resilience, unlike Green Lights where McConaghey implicitly endorses violence. Finally, Hodgman is an author who did some acting, not an actor trying to be an author, so his writing is naturally much much better.
My only small complaint with this book is that Hodgman revisits a tired joke about country people trying to kill city people a few too many times. It quickly becomes unnecessary hyperbole.