Brainiac adventures in the curious, competitive, compulsive world of trivia buffs
(Large Print - Hardback)

Includes bibliographical references.

"One day in 2003, Ken Jennings auditioned for Jeopardy! Two years, 75 games, 2,642 correct answers, and over $2.5 million in winnings later, he 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. 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 today's trivia subculture, guiding us on a tour of trivia hotspots across America. He goes head-to-head with the college quiz-bowl circuit, the Boston pub trivia scene, and 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 75-game run on Jeopardy!" --from the dust jacket.