BobHarris.com - Ken Jennings's book, Trebekistan, and other holiday gift ideas I will soon have

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

Main

Ken Jennings's book, Trebekistan, and other holiday gift ideas I will soon have

Tag it now -

Friday, 24 November 2006

If it were up to me, after these kind words about Prisoner of Trebekistan, Ken Jennings would get his official iron-on patch for what he calls the Jeopardy! "club" in the mail next week. Plus a map to the tree fort, and the secret password we use to keep those Millionaire kids out.

The timing of his praise is also a bit remarkable -- I spent a bit of Thanksgiving Day working on a list of books I'm giving (and will shortly recommend here) as gifts during the looming holiday ~~ritual shopping fiasco~~ season, and Brainiac was already right up by the top.

I'm a big advocate of books as gifts: you can usually find cool choices for everyone on your list -- even people who rarely read (they get books about their favorite sports, TV shows, or in extreme cases, smells) -- and at appropriate prices for any implied level of affection; they're simple to wrap (or order gift-wrapped) and carry to somebody's house; and (best of all) they're easy to order -- you can probably knock off half your shopping without moving your kiester from that chair.

Plus, you're usually supporting writers you actually respect, while encouraging people to read more. And any leftover books take about a century to go bad, even without refrigeration.

Anyhow, my list isn't quite done in time for the start of the post-Thanksgiving shopping ~~bloody nightmare~~ rush. (I'm already being crushed by the deadline on the next book.) But here's what I was already gonna say about Brainiac, even before Ken beat me on the buzzer just now: it's surprisingly funny, it's surprisingly modest (coming from a guy who has lots of reasons not to be), and it's the most entertaining book about the world of trivia I've ever seen.

It's also a very different book from Trebekistan, in at least a dozen ways you can find out for yourself if you're curious. A bookstore manager in Anaheim once described it as "the way Kirk was different from Picard," if that's any help. Although she didn't say who was who, and I wish now that I'd asked.

I think it depends on which one of us goes bald with dignity.

PS: Ken's book hasn't sent any women into labor yet that I know of. So, pregnant Ken Jennings fans... you now have a project.