The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of Cool - Hardcover

Proops, Greg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1476747040 ISBN 13: 9781476747040

Publisher: Atria Books, 2015

Synopsis

From the brazen, bold, and beloved comic and podcast star Greg Proops comes an electrifying, thought-provoking, and unrelenting collection of rapid-fire references, historical name-checking, Satchel Paige bon mots, and genuine wisdom.

Greg Proops is an internationally renowned comedian, best known for starring on the hit improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and for his popular award-winning podcast, “The Smartest Man in the World,” which Rolling Stone called “some of the boldest comedy on the podcasting frontier right now.” But Proops is also a fountain of historical knowledge, a wealth of pop culture trivia, and a generally charming know-it-all.

The Smartest Book in the World is based on Proops’s sensational, iTunes Top 10 podcast that has been downloaded more than nine million times, in which his “bold, never-boring voice takes center stage” (The New York Times). The book is a rollicking reference guide to the most essential areas of knowledge in Proops’s universe, from the noteworthy names of the ancient world and baseball, to the movies you must see and the albums you must hear.

Complete with history’s juiciest tales and curious back-stories, Proops expounds on the merits of poetry and proper punctuation, delivering this wealth of information with his signature style and Proopsian panache. An off-beat and exuberant guide to everything, The Smartest Book in the World gives you everything you need to know to always be the smartest person in the room. Well, unless the Proopmaster is there, too.

About this title

About the Author:

Greg Proops is a stand-up comic from San Francisco, best known for his unpredictable appearances on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, which is back on TV on the CW network. Mr. Proopdog has a chart-topping podcast called “The Smartest Man in the World,” which he has recorded live from around the world including Paris, London, Amsterdam, Oslo, New Zealand, Finland, Montreal, Brooklyn, San Francisco, Melbourne, Dublin, Edinburgh, Hollywood, a ship off St. Marten, and somehow, Cleveland. The podcast is available at Proopcast.com and on iTunes. Proops has been a voice actor in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and played Bob in Bob the Builder. He has been a guest on @Midnight on Comedy Central, Red Eye, The Late, Late Show, and Chelsea Lately. He lives in Hollywood. It’s not that bad, really.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

The Smartest Book in the World INTRODUCTION

Hurray, hurrah, you made it to The Smartest Book in the World. You are now officially more inquisitive than all your bored friends. In your hands you hold a clamorous compendium, a rancorous reportage, a lexicon of literacy. This is the burning bush, the Rosetta stone, the Fountain of Youth, the Grail to all the funnest knowledge and most freaktastical answers to the questions you’ve never asked, like: Which Roman emperor would be the best first baseman? and Does vodka go with vodka? You know, the vitals.

Lots of comedians write first-person memoirs of their hilarious experiences in show business. This is not a bad thing. We like to see comedians get work. Sometimes they tell stories about their dog or people they shagged. This book is not one of those. I don’t have a dog. The people I know don’t have dog stories, either. Not even shaggy ones. To be sure, the experiences are there, but this round it’s better to mine the vast worlds outside one’s career and troll for laughs and the occasional fact.

What makes you so smart? I hear you ask. Stop sniveling. It does not happen overnight. One must spend years traveling, studying, and performing to rapt, attentive, worshipful crowds. Since that was practically impossible, I self-anointed and did a Proopcast. The knowledge collected is for us to share. You will be excited, then ashamed, then inflamed, then engaged.

Thank you for buying this. If you stole it, well done, you. You are going to make your way in this world. If you borrowed it, return it full. Let us take to the ether.

About this edition

• Publisher: Atria Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1476747040
• ISBN 13: 9781476747040
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320