Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious,…
Loading...

Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of… (2006)

by Ken Jennings

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
4341722,088 (3.83)20
2006 (4) 2008 (3) autobiography (9) biography (14) culture (3) game shows (11) games (12) geek (3) hardcover (4) history (3) humor (5) Jeopardy (34) Ken Jennings (7) library (5) memoir (32) NF (3) non-fiction (57) own (5) pop culture (5) quiz shows (5) read (7) read in 2006 (3) read in 2008 (5) reference (3) signed (5) sociology (3) television (10) to-read (7) trivia (89) unread (5)
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
A funny look at the world of trivia! It covers history, game show scandals, bar trivia nights, Jeopardy and much much more!

Ken Jennings is always funny, a bit sarcastic, but mostly aimed at himself. It is never over done, and always leaves a person wanting more. This book is more than just winning a bunch of games on Jeopardy! ( )
  TheDivineOomba | Jun 13, 2013 |
Jeopardy! fans may recall the 2004/2005 season, when a software engineer from Salt Lake City named Ken Jennings played in an unprecedented 75 consecutive games, racking up a large winning total and rekindling interest in the show. In this book, Jennings uses his experience on the show to frame an in-depth look into the world of trivia, from the first published books of trivia questions to the quiz-show scandals of the 1950s, from pub quizzes to the university trivia circuit. Some of the information has aged a little bit, since the book was published in 2006, but regardless it is an entertaining look at the trivia culture. Having had some experience with trivia at the university level, I particularly enjoyed the discussion and history of the various leagues. Trivia buffs will also enjoy the quiz questions sprinkled throughout each chapter (answers at the end of the chapter to test your knowledge).

If you're a fan of Jeopardy! or University Challenge, have watched/read Starter for Ten and want to know more about the University Challenge sort of world, or enjoy collecting seemingly useless facts, then pick up this book. ( )
  rabbitprincess | Apr 19, 2013 |
Learn about Ken Jennings and the subject of trivia! Jennings' gentle, nerdy, self-deprecating humor is a soothing balm for an overexposure to Chicago snarkiness (present Chicago buds excluded, of course :o). He reads like I fear I sound, although I don't have close to the knowledge base he draws upon. Good grief, I hope I'm not as know-it-all as that. Entertaining look into the history of trivia, it's current forms and festivals, and a behind-the-scenes viewpoint of Jeopardy!. Enjoyable read and endorsed by Will Shortz. ( )
  EhEh | Apr 3, 2013 |
Of course, I'm a little bitter that my Jeopardy experience was, shall we say, less triumphant than his, but his book is really interesting.

He combines the story of his reign on Jeopardy with a history of trivia contests and lots of jokes, some funnier than others. There are also little trivia-question footnotes for each chapter.

All in all, Jennings seems like a fun guy, and the book was actually a page-turner. ( )
  JenneB | Apr 2, 2013 |
This is my second Ken Jennings book. I read Maphead last year and really enjoyed it so my husband got me this one for Christmas. I really enjoyed this one too.

My favorite parts of this book (just like in Maphead) are his anecdotal stories. In this case - this book follows his journey on Jeopardy - from his decision to audition all the way up until he is eliminated. Those memories are interspersed with stories about the history of trivia and the other forms of competitive and collected trivia. Some of the historical diversions get a bit dry - but when he comes back around to his experiences - his writing is so lively and funny.

Recommended! ( )
  alanna1122 | Apr 2, 2013 |
Showing 1-5 of 17 (next | show all)
Jennings is a very charming, insightful writer.
added by Katya0133 | editTime, Lev Grossman (Sep 25, 2006)
 
Jennings offers his own unique philosophy on trivia: in an era of specialization, trivia is not trivial; it allows us to know a little bit about a lot of things.
added by Katya0133 | editLibrary Journal, Jennifer Zarr (Sep 15, 2006)
 
added by Katya0133 | editBooklist, David Siegfried (Sep 1, 2006)
 
Jennings's prose is competent enough to keep even the trivia-impaired turning the pages in this survey of his nerdy avocation's lore and history.
added by Katya0133 | editKirkus Reviews (Jun 1, 2006)
 
[T]he former computer programmer is a charmingly self-deprecating guide to the subculture of esoterica.
added by Katya0133 | editPublishers Weekly (May 29, 2006)
 
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Series (with order)
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Awards and honors
Epigraph
What shall I compare it to, this fantastic thing I call my Mind? To a waste-paper basket, to a sieve choked with sediment, or to a barrel full of floating froth and refuse? --Logan Pearsall Smith, Trivia, 1917
Dedication
To Mindy for all of the usual reasons and six unusual ones
First words
Here's some trivia for you.
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Publisher series

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (5)

Book description
Haiku summary

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0812974999, Paperback)

One day back in 2003, Ken Jennings and his college buddy Earl did what hundreds of thousands of people had done before: they auditioned for Jeopardy! Two years, 75 games, 2,642 correct answers, and over $2.5 million in winnings later, Ken Jennings emerged as trivia’s undisputed king. Brainiac traces his rise from anonymous computer programmer to nerd folk icon. But along the way, it also explores his newly conquered kingdom: the world of trivia itself.

Jennings had always been minutiae-mad, poring over almanacs and TV Guide listings at an age when most kids are still watching Elmo and putting beans up their nose. But trivia, he has found, is centuries older than his childhood obsession with it. Whisking us from the coffeehouses of seventeenth-century London to the Internet age, Jennings chronicles the ups and downs of the trivia fad: the quiz book explosion of the Jazz Age; the rise, fall, and rise again of TV quiz shows; the nostalgic campus trivia of the 1960s; and the 1980s, when Trivial Pursuit® again made it fashionable to be a know-it-all.
Jennings also investigates the shadowy demimonde of today’s trivia subculture, guiding us on a tour of trivia hotspots across America. He goes head-to-head with the blowhards and diehards of the college quiz-bowl circuit, the slightly soused faithful of the Boston pub trivia scene, and the raucous participants in the annual Q&A marathon in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, “The World’s Largest Trivia Contest.” And, of course, he takes us behind the scenes of his improbable 75-game run on Jeopardy!

But above all, Brainiac is a love letter to the useless fact. What marsupial has fingerprints that are indistinguishable from human ones?* What planet has a crater on it named after Laura Ingalls Wilder?** What comedian had the misfortune to be born with the name “Albert Einstein”?*** Jennings also ponders questions that are a little more philosophical: What separates trivia from meaningless facts? Is being good at trivia a mark of intelligence? And is trivia just a waste of time, or does it serve some not-so-trivial purpose after all?

Uproarious, silly, engaging, and erudite, this book is an irresistible celebration of nostalgia, curiosity, and nerdy obsession–in a word, trivia.

* The koala
** Venus
*** Albert Brooks



From the Hardcover edition.

(retrieved from Amazon Sun, 06 Jan 2013 09:42:08 -0500)

The competitor who became the longest running champion on "Jeopardy!" offers a look at the human fascination with trivia, from the pop culture of the past to such modern-day phenomena as Trivial Pursuit, that celebrates the glory of the useless fact.

Quick Links

Swap Ebooks Audio
2 avail.
39 wanted
3 pay

Popular covers

Rating

Average: (3.83)
0.5 1
1 1
1.5
2 4
2.5 3
3 17
3.5 14
4 63
4.5 9
5 17

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

Help/FAQs | About | Privacy/Terms | Blog | Contact | LibraryThing.com | APIs | WikiThing | Common Knowledge | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | 82,534,654 books!