BobHarris.com

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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Ulp

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Wednesday, 07 March 2007

One of the nice things about traveling is that sometimes you have no idea what’s going on, and so when you’re faced with ads and slogans, you have no choice but to take them at face value.

Here in St. Vincent, there are numerous large red signs, sometimes adorned with large looming faces, with a slogan that’s hard to argue with:

ULP
Better by far!!!

Better than what, I have no idea. Than the alternative, I guess. Or better than ULP used to be. Or better than being mauled by a rabid cougar, maybe. But ULP is better, anyhow. By far. All over the island. Three exclamation points.

Turns out ULP is a major political party, and yep, they won the last election. Possibly because they were better. Than being mauled. By far. !!!

Actually, I find this preferable to political marketing in the US. Phrases like “clear skies,” “healthy forests” and “war on terror” actually invert reality, the same way 1950s TV tobacco ads dressed actors as doctors to make smoking look healthy. “Better by far!!!” is so direct, sincere, and inspecific that I find myself feeling almost wistful. If they were also “new and improved,” I believe I could live here happily.

I also love that the ruling political party’s acronym is a word used in cartoons to indicate a sudden realization of doom.

In a lot of countries, that’s damn near truth in advertising.