Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy by Bob Harris

Bob Harris spent some time as a stand-up comedian. That background comes through clearly in his non-fiction account of his Jeopardy! days, "A Prisoner of Trebekistan," which is filled with his unique and off-kilter (although not off-color) 
brand of humor. I remembered the author's multiple appearances on the show from seeing his picture on the cover, as Harris is a man who definitely made an 
impression on the famous game show for both his quirky looks and unusual commentary. 

That personality is why he was chosen to come back on so many Jeopardy! Champions Tournaments, chosen even before those contestants who made more money, because he was just so much fun. 

Besides the show, Harris talks candidly about his failed relationships with various women, and his world travels, although I find that those final chapters of the book were the most tedious for me to read through, despite his humor and his frequent 
references to odd trivia that he learned while abroad. Where the book really sings, however, is where he recounts his time on the show, his study methods, and the other Jeopardy! contestants he met and befriended. Luckily, that's most of the book. 

Other reviewers have found the final bits interesting, where Harris philosophizes about how Trebekistan (a fictional land named after Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek) is the world, and how everything is tied together in a web of knowledge. But I knew that going in~ what I enjoyed about Harris most is his stories about Cleveland (having lived there) and its losing ways. Most helpful for other Jeopardy! hopefuls is his teaching how he memorized impossible facts by making mental pictures, and I found his advice in keeping with other books on 
memory tricks of the champions ("Moonwalking with Einstein", for example.) 

So what is this book? Autobiography? Memory guide? Advice for the world 
traveler? It's a little bit of all those, with a touch of humanistic philosophy thrown in for good measure. So my advice would be, for those like myself who only wanted to know about Bob's time on Jeopardy! and how he managed to win 
against some of the show's greatest champions, stick to reading the first % of the text. Like the Beatles in the late '60s, Harris takes a spiritual journey near the end of the book that would have been better if it had been more personal and less public. 

Reviewed by Gerti