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Actual Books
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
“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING.”
-- John Hodgman,
author, The Areas of My Expertise and correspondent for The Daily Show
"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"
-- The Wall Street Journal
"A surprisingly touching memoir"
-- Entertainment Weekly
"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
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Home  Book Blog Ken Jennings's book, Trebekistan, and other holiday gift ideas I will soon have
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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.
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