BobHarris.com - Stumbling into Trebekistan

Books! Actual books!

"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"

-- The Wall Street Journal

"Pulls you in like a good sports story"

-- The New York Times Book Review

"Endearingly frank... jubilant... lighthearted and fast-paced"

-- New York Newsday

"A surprisingly touching memoir"

-- Entertainment Weekly

"Snappy and informative"

-- Associated Press

"Effortlessly funny and informative... tender, human, and very wise... A must for anyone who loves Jeopardy!, or has ever seen it, or is breathing."

-- Joss Whedon, creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

"I haven't seen Jeopardy! since I was a kid, and yet I was charmed and amused by Bob Harris's fascinating and surprisingly suspenseful book. Through sheer force of personality, he takes this brainy TV show and makes it funny and easy to relate to."

-- Ira Glass, creator and host, This American Life

"A surprisingly intimate, entertaining book."

-- Orson Scott Card, 4-time Hugo Award winner, author of Ender's Game

"Funny, enlightening -- and just might help you win a million bucks on Jeopardy!"

-- A. J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All

"A masterful job of describing the feel of Jeopardy! in the heat of battle... I knew Bob was a great guy and a fantastic Jeopardy! player. Now I've found that he's also a wonderful writer. I think I'm starting to hate him."

-- Brad Rutter, top money-winner in Jeopardy! history

Books I'm Getting

Who Hates Whom:
Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up —
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™

“Revelatory... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”

— Boston Globe

"Brave... irreverent... charges into the thick of the globe's myriad simmering wars... hilariously relaxed."

— New York Observer

"Only Bob could make a user’s guide to our increasingly hostile world this absorbing, this breezy, and—ultimately—this hopeful.”

— Ken Jennings, author of Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING. A gimlet-eyed look at the world we endure that’s also suitable for enjoying with a gimlet.”

— John Hodgman, author of The Areas of My Expertise
and correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

"All three [presidential] candidates should read all three of these [recommended] books, but McCain gets first crack at Bob Harris's "Who Hates Whom“... a lighthearted overview of the insurrections and civil wars in the world today."

— Steven Pinker, author of The Stuff of Thought, in the New York Times Book Review

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Stumbling into Trebekistan

Tag it now -

Tuesday, 19 September 2006

Hello, sudden flood of StumbleUpon visitors! Wow. Lots of you.

Where you are: Prisoner of Trebekistan is my new humor book about not winning on Jeopardy! a total of five times. (Yes, you read that right. So far, in fact, I have played for and not won a total of over $3.1 million. Which is something not many people can say. Or probably would.) This page is a blog about Trebekistan and related events, with a lot of free stuff to enjoy.

If you're smiling at the idea of somebody losing on Jeopardy! not just once, but over and over, or you'd like to learn how people actually study the vast range of material, or you've always been curious about what Alex and the game and its best players are really like to be around -- all while laughing at my expense -- you might enjoy clicking around here, and you'll probably love the book. At left are early blurbs from the Wall Street Journal, Ira Glass, Entertainment Weekly, and even Joss Whedon, the guy who created Buffy. (Neat!)

Whether you want to pick up your own copy of Trebekistan right now, fans of Jeopardy! will find a lot to play with here on this site anyway. For starters, this video explains how a guy with little real knowledge of classic books (me) can pull British Literature out of the netherest of regions:

And this video reveals an unexpected result after your first nine games -- more Some Contestants Also Receive! crap than I'd have ever believed:

If you're smiling, you'll probably have fun with the book and this site.

Poke around the Trebekistan Menu to the upper right, and you'll find chats with many of Jeopardy!'s greats, a bunch of travel stuff (the show led me to get more excited about seeing a lot of the world, a feeling I hope you'll ultimately share) including some cool pics further down this page, and a trove of extra material I'll be adding to regularly, all designed to be fun for fans of both Jeopardy! and Prisoner of Trebekistan.

Thanks for stopping by! Amazon is always open if you decide you want to get a copy for yourself or as a gift. Either way, come back soon for new videos and more.