BobHarris.com - Kansas, where the gene pool has no pump

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

HRW

Kansas, where the gene pool has no pump

Tag it now -

Monday, 16 May 2005

How do you believe the Kansas state board of education was created?

They all descend from a common ancestor; lots of common ancestors, actually

709

50.4%

Unintelligent Design

403

28.7%

They're apes. Not descendants of apes -- just apes

152

10.8%

A spontaneous mutation, to be naturally selected in the next election

142

10.1%

What I don't get about the "Intelligent Design" advocates is how they can actually look around Kansas, of all places, and see the slightest sign of infinite wisdom.

If you don't understand what I mean, drive I-70 sometime between, say, Colby and Salina. I've done it a half-dozen times. I wouldn't let whoever designed that landscape touch my kitchen, much less the entire universe.

This said, I've actually enjoyed a lot of my time in the state. I spoke at KSU a bunch of times and always found the folks to be bright and open-minded. Manhattan and Lawrence are both pretty cool.

Too bad the people who own and operate actual science books seem to be so outnumbered.

New poll at left. It's not particularly amusing. I'm just pissed at how thuddingly obvious the hypocrisies can be and remain undiscussed in the mainstream.