PRISONER OF TREBEKISTAN….Have you ever wondered if there’s a secret to winning at Jeopardy? Well, it turns out there is. And Bob Harris spills the beans in Prisoner of Trebekistan.
Seriously, he does. He was over at my house a few weeks ago and we got to talking about his past appearances on the show. I’d love to be a contestant too, I told him, but I have poor reading habits and a lousy memory and probably wouldn’t do well. Pshaw, he told me. There’s a trick to memorizing large amounts of crap and it’s all in the book. He’d be happy to send me a copy. And he did. And it did.
Unfortunately ? and I don’t want to give anything away here ? the secret involves (a) massive amounts of time and (b) a healthy dose of obsessive insanity. Both of which Bob apparently had at the time, and it’s a combination that makes Prisoner of Trebekistan genuinely delightful. It’s got plenty of inside dope about Jeopardy, but it’s also a journal about Bob’s life and how Jeopardy holds up a mirror to it. It’s a terrific read.
Highly recommended, whether you’re a Jeopardy junkie or not. It’s available now at bookstores large and small. It probably makes a great gift too, and all the royalties go to a reliably liberal fellow blogger. How can you lose?
