The Smartest Book in the World

March 2, 2015
Perhaps best known for his stint on the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway, comedian and podcaster Proops’s compendium of trivia, passionate essays, lists, and observations might not be the smartest book, but it’s certainly an entertaining one. Readers may be distracted by his quirks—“woman” is always spelled with a capital W, and Proops lists numerous reasons why, such as “Old Women raise the world and know everything” and “war is menstruation envy”—and his deep, abiding love for baseball, which is both the subject of a lengthy essay and a common metaphor throughout the book for discussing Roman emperors, the British monarchy, bombshell beauties, and U.S. presidents, among other random subjects. Rather than offer a linear examination of a particular topic, Proops jumps around, citing the brilliance of poets Baudelaire, Sappho, Basho, and Blake in addition to T. Rex’s Electric Warrior album and Alfred Hitchcock’s film Lifeboat. Arguments could be made that some subjects, such as punk (he lists only the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, the Clash’s London Calling, and the Ramones’ Rocket to Russia), don’t receive the attention they deserve, but what Proops lacks in breadth he more than makes up for in enthusiasm. It’s a terrifically random appreciation of cultural touchstones that’s sure to inspire readers to look further.

July 27, 2015
This audiobook takes an amusing look into what Proops considers the most important things in the world: baseball, movies, words, books, poetry, history, and more. It’s an irreverent jaunt through things that Proops wants to share (or has already shared in some form, as this book is adapted from his iTunes podcast series). Proops narrates with all the zeal and zaniness that one comes to expect from the comedian. Beyond knowing how to deadpan and deliver jokes, he does well with speed and emphasis. He reads quickly and fluidly through a paragraph in one section but slows down to recite a poem in the next section. He is a lively and emotional reader, never leaving listeners to doubt where he stands on a given subject. This fun and versatile collection of personal tidbits works well in the audio format; listeners quickly realize that if the current section doesn’t entirely engage them, there is something new coming up shortly. A S&S/Touchstone hardcover.