Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs
- ISBN-10
- 1588365522
- ISBN-13
- 9781588365521
- Category
- Games & Activities
- Pages
- 288
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006-09-12
- Publisher
- Villard
- Author
- Ken Jennings
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® 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.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2007-10-30
- 288 pages
- Paperback
- Villard
Similar books
-
The Ethics of Poker
By Todd M. Furman... deals made with a drunken person violate the informed consent rule and are immoral. how ... morally accountable for his action(s) if the action(s) 4.
-
Treading Through: 45 Years of Philippine Dance
By Basilio Esteban S. VillaruzThat body is whole because it is a thinking ( Mabel Todd's ) and conceptualizing body . ... Both processes have to deal with the idea of beauty in dance ...
-
We the Gamers: How Games Teach Ethics and Civics
By Karen SchrierK. Schrier and D. Gibson (Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2010), pp. 239–261). 15. Becker, “Choosing and Using Games in the Classroom.” 16. For further information, see D. Simkins, “Assessing Video Games for Learning,” Learning, ...
-
Playing with Sound: A Theory of Interacting with Sound and Music in Video Games
By Karen CollinsLeonardo Music Journal 14 : 97-104 . Gibbs , M. R. , K. Hew , and G. Wadley . 2004. Social Translucence of the Xbox Live Voice Channel . In Entertainment Computing , ed . M. Rauterberg . 377–385 . Berlin : Springer - Verlag Gibson ...
-
A Parent's Guide to Video Games: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Managing Home Video Games
By Jason RichProduction Staff Lead Editor : J. L. France Copy Editors : Cover Design : Irene , Alphonse & Manfred Additional Concepts One on One Graphics Carolyn Porter Page Design : Cover Credits DuckTalesTM and © 1991 The Disney Company .
-
Really Clever Crosswords 2
By David Levinson WilkC rossword lovers will welcome this second volume of clever, challenging puzzles by David Levinson Wilk.
-
Crosswords
By David Levinson WilkFill the coffee cup, find a pencil, and grab a chair: it’s time to solve some crosswords! What a great way to take a break, relax, and give the brain a fun challenge, too.
-
Suburban Xanadu: The Casino Resort on the Las Vegas Strip and Beyond
By David G. SchwartzLevinson was a prominent member of the Detroit - area “ gambling fraternity . ” He collaborated with Samuel Garfield , a Midwest betting and gambling operator and friend of Moe Dalitz.26 Levinson's two brothers , Mike and Louis ...
-
The Hogwarts Library Collection: The Complete Harry Potter Hogwarts Library Books
By J.K. RowlingThis collection includes the updated edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, with a new foreword from J.K. Rowling (writing as Newt Scamander) and six new beasts!
-
Bridge Strategy at Trick One
By Fred L. Karpin21445-1 Paperbound $ 2.50 THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF Oz , L. Frank Baum . America's finest children's book in facsimile of first edition with all Denslow illustrations in full color . The edition a child should have .