1) Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
2) Last Chance to See
3) The Long, Dark Teatime of the soul
4) Marky Mark Goes Bananas (invisible edition)

These books are attributable to John Hodgman retroactively, of course.

More by John Hodgman, The Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman, All by John Hodgman, and If Chins Could Kill by Bruce Campbell.

keep the book. i'll take the statue.(feel free to throw in the book)

HA! It's a trick question. The books are all in your mind! John Hodgman is actually responsible for the book shelf itself as well as the special place in my heart.

The REAL answer to the question posed is that John Hodgman is responsible for ANYTHING OTHER than four of those books. Being that we are in the Mirror Universe, I could not even recognize Hodgman, because of his goatee and his looking like a Mac. So, in an effort to answer your question, I am mute.

- "All"
- "More"
- "The Areas of My Expertise"
- "The Curse of the Masking Tape Mummy"

I love the idol from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc. Absolutely awesome! If I correctly guess the weight of "The Curse of the Masking Tape Mummy" and replace it with a bag of sand weighing the same... can i win a signed copy?

So once again, Jones, what was briefly yours is now mine.

In the mirror world, he has written/inspired none of books because he doesn't know anything.

I don't like the mirror universe, Rick is too witty. Shock, I tell you *shock* that Rick would insinuate that you are not a skilled artist! Mirror universe Rick needs to be beaten to within an inch of his life with his spoon collection!

And to put my hat in the ring for the contest:
All
More
Areas
Chins

Only because other people have said so!

Keep up the excellent work, Scott!

The first four books of the HITCHHIKERS's Trilogy, of course; since it was on a PC that the upper-half of the room cleaning robot ate the last bablefish, causing me to break my keyboard since I had ignored that worthless pile of mail on my doorstep.

(I still go NGAAAH!!! when I recall that damned robot.)

I refuse to answer your question, if only to prove that your contest is fair and no purchase is necessary to win.

That is All
More Information than you Require
The Areas of My Expertise

And then....
Curse of the Masking-Tape Mummy

The long dark teatime of the soul, because that sounds like something John would say in one of his guest appearances on the Daily Show. The more than complete hitchhikers guide, because its by the same dude. Soon I will be invincible, again because this sounds like something John would say on the daily show. And finally, the Watchmen, becuase THE WATCHMEN RULES! (and so does John ;-)

None of the books with his name or initials on them, becuase that is a wicked plot by the Moon emperor to mislead us, and certainly not the book of which everyone claims he was the literary agent, becuase that's a wicked plot by Wikipedia to mislead us.

Re: the mirror universe - shouldn't everyone be facing the opposite direction?

"Which four books on this shelf exist because of John Hodgman?"

In the mirror universe or this one?

During the third panel, I was crossing my fingers for Boss with a goatee. XD

I don't know, but THE DETAILS ARE UNIMPORTANT !

It doesn't matter. Because in the mirror universe John Hodgman is an encyclopedia salesman.

Feb. 9 is my birthday!

The correct answer is "every book on the shelf," because John Hodgman is, obviously, the nexus of all human achievement.

However, I must decline the prize because I already own a copy of your book. I'm on my second reading already. "Warm, warm pants heat," mmmm.

The Areas of My Expertise
More Information Than You Require
That Is All
The Curse of the Masking-Tape Mummy

I'll guess the 3 books he wrote and the Hitchiker's Guide because you won it off of him in a game of poker.

The Douglas Adams and Hunter S. Thomson books, thanks to John Hodgman having a time machine.

The three on the left plus the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams based the Vogons on Hodgman.

Well, we are talking about a mirror universe, remember? This picture was likely taken in that universe, and when we're talking about a universe where people deprive themselves of the good-looking facial hair that Scott and I have in common it means that you can't apply logic as we understand it to answer the question! Also, Scott's comic in the mirror universe is popular because of the art, though it is not drawn by a skilled artist, which... well... sort of means that some things are the same in both universes, I guess, and moots my point.

Scott, you know we love your art! The idol won't let us say otherwise!

I assumed the mirror universe would just have reflected versions of all of the art.

Also, how's Soon I Will Be Invisible? I liked The Magicians, so I assume that the ability to write books I like is a trait siblings would share,

I don't know who John Hodgman is, though he is a clearly a writer. I suspect I should find out, simply due to the fact that the other authors on your bookshelf also inhabit mine.

I hyave no idea. But then I have signed copies of all the Douglas Adams books, so in the game of life, I win!

Trick question, they all are there because of John Hodgman, as illustrated by the contents of The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. Dirk Gently would tell you that everything is interconnected, and so if John Hodgman were removed from the equation, all reality as we know it may suffer. (note: I wrote this without reading others' comments as I am supposed to be working right now; apologies if I have duplicated an answer)

since it was stated that you don't need to answer the question to enter the book contest, i won't. i will however comment on my love for the masking tape mummy. my wife will agree with me when i say that particular comic epitomizes my life.

My guess is:

Watchmen
Batman: Dark Knight Returns
Long Dark Tea Time
Complete Hitchhikers

(In this scenario, John Hodgman is a friend of yours who clued you in to some of the most awesome stuff ever.)

Throw me the idol, I'll throw you the whip!

I'm going to guess "All," "More," and "The Areas of My Expertise," and in lieu of the likely-correct answers before me, something clearly incorrect. I'm going to say "Watchmen," because Hodgman's brilliance is obviously a thinly-veiled inspiration for the less-handsome Ozymandias.

The answer to the question is [+++CARRIER LOST+++}

Using my keen intellect and mastery of trivia (and cheating by reading the first page of responses), I'll have to say the Hodgman trilogy and the Bruce Campbell autobiography ...

The four books are Douglas Adams' More Than Complete Hitchhikers Guide, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, and Last Chance to See. This is due to John Hogman's early career as an agent for the Time Patrol, the details of which remain classified.

well that is the most comments I have ever seen on this sight.

All of them and the shelf!

Answering this question in terms of Hodgman is like trying to explain Hawking's work via Newtonian paradigm. Or like eating crayons to demonstrate the difference between primary and secondary colors. Or... whatever, just send me the book.

I'm repeating, since my answer was already taken.
All
The Areas of My Expertise
More
The Curse of the Masking Tape Mummy

Is the idol guy sitting on something or does he just have a really weird uncircumcised penis?

My husband owns a signed copy of "If Chins Could Kill", and it's one of his most prized possessions. He put the dust jacket in a frame, and it currently hangs above the toilet in our guest bathroom. Now any time a (male) guest uses the facilities, he gets stared at by a fantastically smarmy picture of Bruce Campbell with "<husband's name>, you rat bastard, gimme some sugar" scrawled across his face in sharpie marker. Needless to say, it's a conversation piece.