Peaches, the woman who runs the readings at the Park Slope Barnes and Noble, introduced author and "famous minor TV personality" John Hodgman with these well-chosen words:

"You remind us that genius is sexy and intelligence is cool…"

Hodgman, dressed in a khaki colored suit and sneakers with bright orange laces, good naturedly greeted the crowd at the event to promote his new book, All the Information You Require, a follow-up to his bestseller (which he described as garbage) The Areas of My Expertise, fake trivia books with information drawn from Hodgman’s well-stocked imagination.

The crowd was decidedly young (20-40). And devoted. Quite a few wore glasses, as Hodgman noted, and donned blazers. Many came out because of Hodgman’s frequent appearances on The Daily Show. And of course, because of his role as the PC guy in those funny Apple commercials.  "I play a human-shaped computer. I’m a mentat."

"As you can see, I’m not wearing a tuxedo," he told the crowd. Apparently he’s been donning a tuxedo, given to him by an editor at GQ Magazine, at readings across the country.  But since he was in his hometown, he was dressing down.

"The children run things around here," he said. And his child had picked out the shirt/tie combo he was wearing. He then spoke directly to the kids in the audience.

"I salute you. I hope I didn’t offend you." He then asked a young boy in the audience.  "If I have your permission, may I continue? This is Park Slope."

He went on to read the hilarious chapter of the new book about "the small Utopian commune known as Park Slope, where there are leafy streets, good schools, and strong neighborhood spirit cemented by the fact that we are all silently judging each other."

According to Hodgman, all are equal in Park Slope except the children, who are all-powerful and capable of psychically exploding your head. "The neighborhood was founded by exiles from Manhattan in 1990, who were expert at the time honored art of gutting brownstones."

Hodman’s timing and droll way with word  had the crowd laughing all the way through the Park Slope chapter, which seeks to correct certain myths about this much-maligned neighborhood.

"Do we crawl on all fours and allow dogs to hold the leashes?" he asked the crowd. "Only before 9 in the morning."

"Do we wear secret magic underwear?" he queried. "Are we dirty?" He then described a secret cleansing ritual that requires Park Slopers to bathe in baby spit.

Hodgman is deadpan, wacky and wildly absurd always staying in character as the man who knows too much or at least pretends to know all the information you require.

Despite B&N asking him not to do a Q&A because of the number of people who wanted their books signed, Hodgman insisted on taking questions, because he was in his home turf and he loves to do so; he really showed of his ability to be funny on the spot.

"I want to thank you and everyone on The Daily Show for helping me survive the last 8 Bush years," one audience member announced.

"I think you would have muddled through," Hodgman said without missing a beat.

The crowd roared.