Brainiac by Ken Jennings
^^^Last month, I had the opportunity to hear Ken Jennings speak at the Great Salt Lake Book Festival. I wrote a blog about it here: http://lifesapicture.blogspot.com/2006/10/great-salt-lake-book-festival.html. He was well-spoken, funny and very enlightening. Needless to say, I bought the book.
^^^The book is very different from most books I read. It's not really a story, certainly not fiction, more of a fact book. But Ken Jennings wrote this in such a charming, fascinating way. What a fun read. Yes, the story of his 75 appearances on Jeopardy is the main theme, but that story is surrounded but the whys and wherefores of the trivia world. Each chapter is titled with a question: "What is Ambition?", "What is Erudition?", "What is Juxtaposition?", for example. The narration of each chapter includes about ten trivia facts which you can try to answer or just turn to the end of the chapter like I did. Jennings traces the beginning of the trivia craze and how it has phased in and out of our society. He follows the old TV quiz shows, college quiz bowls, pub quiz mania, Trivial Pursuit, and the many volumes written about trivia. There are so many funny stories included in this book, and Jennings did make me laugh many times. I am not a trivia fanatic in the least, but I will read this book again in a few years and see if I can remember any of those questions. Probably not. Here are some of Jennings' thoughts about trivia and trivia geeks:
~~~"If trivia is a fad, it's certainly a pesky one. Like the Terminator, Halley's comet and genital herpes, trivia just keeps coming back."
~~~"If a quiz bowl player volunteers to tell you the story of his "best buzz" ever, it's not going to involve a few bottles of Smirnoff Ice and a band that was, like, really jammin'. It's going to be about the time his team was down thirty points on the last question, and he "buzzed in" and answered "mitochondria" after just two or three words, and single-handedly converted the entire bonus question to win the game!"
~~~"Trivia, in other words, is the bait on the fishing rod of education. By the time you realize what you've swallowed, you're hooked."
~~~"Trivia reminds us that truth is stranger than fiction, that the universe really is a brilliant and mysterious place. In the midst of our humdrum daily routine, trivia can be a bolt out of the blue, reminding us how weirdly wonderful life really is. "
~~~"Not all trvial facts are trivial, and even the trivial ones might come in handy someday. Even trivia like 'Opossums have thirteen nipples' might mean something to somebody. If nothing else, it's a matter of life and death to the thirteenth opossum."
^^^I enjoyed Brainiac a lot and learned many interesting facts that may or may not be useful. Unlike Ken Jennings, unfortunately, I am doomed to forget most of it. But I'll have this book as a reference. I recommend this book for when you need to read something completely different from the fiction/nonfiction story genre.
Rating: 4.5
6 Comments:
Les said...
Great review! This is a book my Trivial Pursuit champion of a husband would love. One more gift to go under the tree. :)
Cassie said...
I really want to borrow this from you someday along with many others. Sheesh my TBR list is growing and I don't even have a list yet.
Nessie said...
As a kid I used to love to watch Jeopardy & my dad's friends would say that if I could answera a question that he could not get I would get 5$ & if I answered a question he got WRONG then I got 20$. How could I not have fond memories??...
Colleen Gleason said...
This sounds like a great book, something my husband and/or father in law might enjoy for Christmas.Thanks for the review!(PS I used to read the Death on Demand series years ago...and wished there was a store like Death on Demand that I could visit!!)
Nessie said...
By the way, I work with a group that has the same title as your post. So a member at a meeting while surfing went gaga over this. www.brainiac.degadesign.com
booklogged said...
I wonder when I'm going to get to my copy of this book?! I so enjoyed hearing him talk. He looks so quiet and well, 'brainiac' but he was so funny. The book sounds wonderful. It's nice to know there is someone in the world who, when she buys a book, actually reads it. Hats off!
^^^The book is very different from most books I read. It's not really a story, certainly not fiction, more of a fact book. But Ken Jennings wrote this in such a charming, fascinating way. What a fun read. Yes, the story of his 75 appearances on Jeopardy is the main theme, but that story is surrounded but the whys and wherefores of the trivia world. Each chapter is titled with a question: "What is Ambition?", "What is Erudition?", "What is Juxtaposition?", for example. The narration of each chapter includes about ten trivia facts which you can try to answer or just turn to the end of the chapter like I did. Jennings traces the beginning of the trivia craze and how it has phased in and out of our society. He follows the old TV quiz shows, college quiz bowls, pub quiz mania, Trivial Pursuit, and the many volumes written about trivia. There are so many funny stories included in this book, and Jennings did make me laugh many times. I am not a trivia fanatic in the least, but I will read this book again in a few years and see if I can remember any of those questions. Probably not. Here are some of Jennings' thoughts about trivia and trivia geeks:
~~~"If trivia is a fad, it's certainly a pesky one. Like the Terminator, Halley's comet and genital herpes, trivia just keeps coming back."
~~~"If a quiz bowl player volunteers to tell you the story of his "best buzz" ever, it's not going to involve a few bottles of Smirnoff Ice and a band that was, like, really jammin'. It's going to be about the time his team was down thirty points on the last question, and he "buzzed in" and answered "mitochondria" after just two or three words, and single-handedly converted the entire bonus question to win the game!"
~~~"Trivia, in other words, is the bait on the fishing rod of education. By the time you realize what you've swallowed, you're hooked."
~~~"Trivia reminds us that truth is stranger than fiction, that the universe really is a brilliant and mysterious place. In the midst of our humdrum daily routine, trivia can be a bolt out of the blue, reminding us how weirdly wonderful life really is. "
~~~"Not all trvial facts are trivial, and even the trivial ones might come in handy someday. Even trivia like 'Opossums have thirteen nipples' might mean something to somebody. If nothing else, it's a matter of life and death to the thirteenth opossum."
^^^I enjoyed Brainiac a lot and learned many interesting facts that may or may not be useful. Unlike Ken Jennings, unfortunately, I am doomed to forget most of it. But I'll have this book as a reference. I recommend this book for when you need to read something completely different from the fiction/nonfiction story genre.
Rating: 4.5
6 Comments:
Les said...
Great review! This is a book my Trivial Pursuit champion of a husband would love. One more gift to go under the tree. :)
Cassie said...
I really want to borrow this from you someday along with many others. Sheesh my TBR list is growing and I don't even have a list yet.
Nessie said...
As a kid I used to love to watch Jeopardy & my dad's friends would say that if I could answera a question that he could not get I would get 5$ & if I answered a question he got WRONG then I got 20$. How could I not have fond memories??...
Colleen Gleason said...
This sounds like a great book, something my husband and/or father in law might enjoy for Christmas.Thanks for the review!(PS I used to read the Death on Demand series years ago...and wished there was a store like Death on Demand that I could visit!!)
Nessie said...
By the way, I work with a group that has the same title as your post. So a member at a meeting while surfing went gaga over this. www.brainiac.degadesign.com
booklogged said...
I wonder when I'm going to get to my copy of this book?! I so enjoyed hearing him talk. He looks so quiet and well, 'brainiac' but he was so funny. The book sounds wonderful. It's nice to know there is someone in the world who, when she buys a book, actually reads it. Hats off!
posted by Framed @ 11:08 AM
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