The new bookVacationlandfinds Hodgman operating in a new mode: memoir.
It both falls victim to the genres trappings and maximizes on what can make it so uniquely powerful.
This is especially true of his (larger) first section, set predominantly in Massachusetts.
Credit: Penguin
No story falls completely flat, and Hodgmans wit at least intermittently shines through.
Indeed, some run for only a few pages, and yet they still can drag.
The beauty ofVacationlandcomes through when Hodgman isnt bogged down by his genres conventions.
Even better is the books brief in-between section dubbed only The Middle.
Its a challenge that he meets with startling poignancy in some cases, and which proves insurmountable in others.
