| Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs Contributor(s): Jennings, Ken (Author) |
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ISBN: 0812974999 ISBN-13: 9780812974997 Publisher: Villard Books OUR PRICE: $15.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2007 Annotation: Ken Jennings has risen from anonymous computer programmer to nerd folk icon as the all-time champion of "Jeopardy!" In this book, he explores his newly conquered kingdom: the world of trivia itself. Whisking readers from the coffeehouses of 17th-century London to the Internet age, Jennings chronicles the ups and downs of the trivia fad. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Games & Activities | Trivia - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs - History | United States - 21st Century |
| Dewey: 791.457 |
| Physical Information: 0.62" H x 5.6" W x 8.16" (0.50 lbs) 288 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: NATIONAL BESTSELLER - A witty, charming, and engaging dive into trivia's colorful history, from America's highest-earning game show contestant of all time "Insightful, informative, and written with a strong dose of humor and humility. . . . I loved this book."--Will Shortz, crossword editor, The New York Times Ken Jennings is trivia's undisputed king--and as he traces his rise from anonymous computer programmer to nerd folk icon, he explores his newly conquered kingdom: the world of trivia itself. Trivia, he has found, is centuries older than his childhood obsession with it. Whisking us from the coffeehouses of seventeenth-century London to the Internet age, Jennings chronicles the ups and downs of the trivia fad: the quiz book explosion of the Jazz Age; the rise, fall, and rise again of TV quiz shows; the nostalgic campus trivia of the 1960s; and the 1980s, when Trivial Pursuit(R) again made it fashionable to be a know-it-all. Jennings also investigates the shadowy demimonde of today's trivia subculture, guiding us on a tour of trivia across America. He goes head-to-head with the blowhards and diehards of the college quiz-bowl circuit, the slightly soused faithful of the Boston pub trivia scene, and the raucous participants in the annual Q&A marathon in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, "The World's Largest Trivia Contest." And, of course, he takes us behind the scenes of his improbable 75-game run on Jeopardy But above all, Brainiac is a love letter to the useless fact. (Who knew that there's a crater on Venus named after Laura Ingalls Wilder? Ken Jennings, that's who.) Engaging and erudite, Brainiac is an irresistible celebration of nostalgia, curiosity, and geeky obsession--in a word, trivia. |