Answers in the Form of Questions
A Definitive History and Insider's Guide to Jeopardy!
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4.6 • 14 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
What is the smartest, most celebrated game show of all time? In this insider's guide, discover the rich history of Jeopardy! -- the beloved game show that has shaped our culture and entertained audiences for years.
Jeopardy! is a lot of things: record-setting game show, beloved family tradition, and proving ground for many of North America's best and brightest. Nearly four decades into its current edition, Jeopardy! now finds itself facing unprecedented change.
This is the chronicle of how the show became a cross-generational touchstone and where it's going next. ANSWERS IN THE FORM OF QUESTIONS dives deep behind the scenes, with longtime host Alex Trebek talking about his life and legacy and the show's producers and writers explaining how they put together the nightly game. Readers will travel to bar trivia showdowns with the show's biggest winners and training sessions with trivia whizzes prepping for their shot onstage. And they'll discover new tales of the show's most notable moments-like the time the Clue Crew almost slid off a glacier-and learn how celebrity cameos and Saturday Night Live spoofs built a television mainstay.
ANSWERS IN THE FORM OF QUESTIONS looks to the past -- and the future -- to explain what Jeopardy! really is: a tradition unlike any other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist McNear debuts with a fast-paced and well-researched behind-the-scenes look into one of America's most popular game shows. Drawing on interviews with Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek, hundreds of contestants, and the show's writers and crew, she explores its enduring popularity and strategies for winning. While Jeopardy! appears to require deep knowledge in focused topics, McNear writes, the key to success is "to build a surface-level amount of knowledge about a wide array of subjects." Suggestions from big winners like James Holhauzer and Ken Jennings include everything from building a Jeopardy! studio simulator at home to sculpting pens and children's toys into practice buzzers. Buzzer timing, having a strategy for wagering, and choosing clues that might uncover a Daily Double are also important. McNear describes Trebek as a tireless worker who arrives on set early to read the day's clues, and is funny, sharp, and self-deprecating off-camera. Digging into the mechanics of how the show comes together, McNear notes how games are built using color-coded categories such as academic subjects, pop culture, and wordplay. As Mike Gaberman, a longtime writer for the show, says, "I still can't wait to see how my categories will play during that day's shooting." Game show lovers and aspiring contestants will definitely want to pick this up.
