Brainiac by Ken Jennings

"For as long as I can remember, I've had the idea that trivia, despite its name, is elegant, complicated, fascinating, worthy of study----that trivia is, in a word, nontrivial."

           -Ken Jennings, from Brainiac

This book is our Page Turners' August selection. I was disappointed I could not get a digital copy from the library. Fortunately, I got a copy in print from our local library. Before I received it, I heard from a few members of our group that they didn't like it much, so my expectations weren't high, but I actually did enjoy the book for the most part. Maybe you have to be a BIG Jeopardy fan to appreciate it---and that, I am, although not as obsessed as Ken and some other brainiacs!

The subtitle of this book gives a down and dirty summary: Adventure in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs. I would say it is mostly a memoir relating the author's incredible success in trivia competitions, most notably on "Jeopardy!" in 2004 (75 games won---6 months---earning $2.5 million---unprecedented!) but with extensive research into trivia history. He also describes some of the current events in trivia culture, including "The World's Largest Trivia Contest" in Steven's Point, Wisconsin, of all places. Jennings' memories of his experiences were my favorite parts of the book, along with the fact that he embeds many trivia questions in each chapter with answers at the end. Fun to see how many answers I knew---and how many more I did not! Much of the history was far less interesting to me. My rating is 4 (more like 3 1/2).

On two pages I found several brief descriptions of trivia that were intriguing:

"Trivia is the marijuana of knowledge."

"[Trivia] ignites our curiosity about things we didn't think we were interested in."

"[Trivia] is bait on the fishing rod of education."

"The right trivia fact at the right time can do more than answer a Daily Double for you. It can change the way you think. It can change your life."