I picked up this book based on a good review from a quizzer friend of mine whose son and my son go to school together. I was interested in "Brainiac" because I had already taken the "Jeopardy!" Test in Chicago, and had this odd feeling, since "Jeopardy!" was having more female contestants on, that I just might need to know more about the quiz show world ... Author Ken Jennings, for those who do not follow" Jeopardy!" closely, was a contestant on the popular Sony quiz show who a few years ago won more games than anyone else in "Jeopardy!" history. For the record, he won 74 games, although he took part in 75. And it's just that sort of minutia with which this book concerns itself. Ken was always someone who loved trivia, so while the book recounts his time on the "Jeopardy!" stage, it also shows how a game show like "Jeopardy!" came to be. Jennings details the history of trivia itself, and then progresses to radio and TV game shows, of course mentioning the "Twenty-One" scandal back in the '50s that showed how some contestants were getting the correct answers to questions by producers who viewed the genre as more entertainment than was legally allowed. Ken also visits with other gamers who play in various circuits around the country, from the trivia tourneys played in our nation's bars, to college quiz bowls of various stripes, and finally to die-hard fans at the annual trivia fest that takes place in a small Wisconsin town. While I found the most interesting part of the book to be the information on Jennings' "Jeopardy!" winning streak, his writing is always entertaining, and his facts are bottomless. "Brainiac" was an always amusing and frequently educational look at a part of Americana that I had never seen before, but is slowly becoming more interesting to me. And hopefully, this book will help when I play the game!
Submitted by Gerti
No comments:
Post a Comment