The Outlandish Companion
by Diana Gabaldon
from Delacorte Press
For nine years, four books, and nearly 4,000 pages, Diana Gabaldon has entranced readers with her talent for historical authenticity, dramatic plot lines, and strong characters in the Outlander series. Her superb writing has earned a loyal audience, but after a million and a half words, even the most fervent of fans may have a difficult time trying to recall the exact details of the secondary characters, let alone the obscure ones. Thankfully, Gabaldon's The Outlandish Companion is here to help.
Part crib notes and part trivia guide, this essential handbook includes synopses of the first four novels, a character guide, notes on plot development and research, answers to frequently asked questions, and teasers for the upcoming novels--there're even horoscope charts of the central characters, a list of fan Web sites, and choice recipes for the truly devoted.
Readers looking for a fix of Gabaldon's humorous voice or insight into her writing processes and characters will certainly be more than satisfied, but those looking for the next installment of Jamie and Claire's adventures will have to wait for The Fiery Cross, the fifth book in this bestselling series, expected sometime in late 1999 to early 2000. --Nancy R.E. O'Brien
New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon has captured the hearts of millions with her critically acclaimed novels, Outlander. Dragonfly In Amber, Voyager, and Drums Of Autumn. From the moment Claire Randall accidentally steps through a magical stone that transports her back in time more than 200 years to 1743, and into the arms of Scottish soldier Jamie Fraser, readers have been enthralled with this epic saga of time travel, adventure, and love everlasting.
Now Diana Gabaldon has written the ultimate companion guide to her bestselling series, the book only she could write - a beautifully illustrated compendium of all things Outlandish. As a special bonus for those who are eagerly awaiting the next appearance of Jamie and Claire, she includes never - before - published excerpts from upcoming works in the series. And there's lots more in this lavish keepsake volume for the many devoted fans who yearn to learn the stories behind the stories:
• Full synopses of Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, and Drums of Autumn
• A complete listing of the characters in all four novels, including extensively researched family trees and genealogical notes
• Professionally cast horoscopes for Jamie and Claire
• A comprehensive glossary and pronunciation guide to Gaelic terms and usage
• The fully explicated Gabaldon Theory of Time Travel
• Frequently asked questions to the author and her (sometimes surprising) answers
• An annotated bibliography
• Tips, personal stories - even a recipe or two
• Essays about medicine and magic in the eighteenth century, researching historical fiction, and more
With the insight, humor, and eye for detail that has made her novels such an outstanding success story. Diana Gabaldon here gives her readers the best gift of all—The Outlandish Companion.
Foodie Fight: A Trivia Game with Gameboard and Cards
by Joyce Lock
from Chronicle Books
Calling all food lovers! This addictive trivia game allows players to strut their culinary stuff and prove who is the smartest foodie of them all. With over 1,000 questions on topics ranging from culinary science and celebrity chefs to food history and exotic cuisine, each player is bound to get a full serving of food knowledge. But think fast, because the first player or team to fill in their game board wins!
Includes:
- Deck of trivia cards
- Six game boards
- Color die
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information (Bathroom Readers)
by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
from Portable Press
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into Music (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)
by Bathroom Readers' Institute
from Portable Press
Guinness World Records 2008 (Guinness World Records)
by Guinness World Records
from Guinness
Guinness World Records 2008 continues to builds on the intriguing, informative, inspiring and instructional records and superlatives that have made Guinness World Records one of the most famous brands and books in the world. This year, we've created a revolutionary new design and filled it with more records than ever before.
New content areas include:
* FORENSIC SCIENCE: An insight into the real-life superlatives of the crime-scene investigators... A must for CSI fans!
* THE ENVIRONMENT: How real is the threat of global warming? A look at some of the recent environmental records...
* HEALTH OF THE NATION: We take a snapshot of human health today and ask: who's the fittest and who's the fattest?
* GAMES & PUZZLES: An interactive spread that allows you to test your smarts: from the first ever crossword question to the fastest sudoku, how will you fare?
* EPIC ENDEAVOURS: Our largest-ever celebration of the superheroes who head for the poles, scale the heights, cross the globe and probe the depths...
* TERRORISM & CONFLICT: Hard-hitting records and reportage on the deadliest threats to our modern society
* BRANDS & ADVERTISING: The biggest names and even bigger budgets behind the brands and adverts we're exposed to every day
* HOME ENTERTAINMENT and CONSUMER TECH: The gadgets and media that we simply can't live without - from the best-selling DVDs to the most powerful computer games consoles.
As well as all the updated annual favorites including; ACTION SPORTS, CUTTING EDGE SCIENCE, INCREDIBLE STUNTS and INSPIRATIONAL PEOPLE.
Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!
by Bob Harris
from Crown
A.: This is the story of a working-class guy from Ohio with little real knowledge of Ambidextrous Presidents, Things Made from Rubber, and hundreds of other categories, but who nonetheless plunges so far into cramming for Jeopardy! that it changes his relationships, bends his worldview, and literally leads him to the ends of the earth, trying to understand it all.
Q.: What is Prisoner of Trebekistan?
Welcome to a world where obscure information is crucial to survival, vast sums of cash are at stake, and milliseconds can change not just a game but the course of your entire life. (Plus, you could win two Camaros and enough Bon Ami cleanser to scrub a small nation.)
Prisoner of Trebekistan is Bob Harris’s hilarious, insightful account of one man’s unlikely epic journey through Jeopardy!, gleefully exploring triumph and failure, the nature of memory, and how knowledge itself can transform you in unpredictable ways—all against the backdrop of the most popular quiz show in history.
In Prisoner of Trebekistan, Bob chronicles his transformation from a struggling stand-up comic who repeatedly fails the Jeopardy! audition test into an elite player competing against the show’s most powerful brains. To get there, he embarks on a series of intense study sessions, using his sense of humor to transform conventional memory skills into a refreshingly playful approach to learning that’s as amusing as it is powerful.
What follows is not only a captivating series of high-stakes wins and losses on Jeopardy!, but also a growing appreciation of a borderless world that Bob calls Trebekistan, where a love of learning reigns and the smarter you get the more you realize how much you don’t yet know.
Filled with secrets that only a veteran contestant could share—from counterintuitive game strategies to Jedi-like tactics with the Jeopardy! signaling device—Prisoner of Trebekistan also gives you the chance to play along with the actual clues that led to victory or defeat in high-level tournaments, plus candid, moving reflections on how the games affected Bob’s offstage life—and vice versa.
Not only an irresistible treat for Jeopardy! fans, Prisoner of Trebekistan is a delight for anyone who loves a rollicking tale that celebrates the unpredictability of life and the sneaky way it has of teaching us the things that really matter.
Mental Floss Presents Condensed Knowledge: A Deliciously Irreverent Guide to Feeling Smart Again
by Mangesh Hattikudur
from Collins
Loaded with meaty trivia and tasty, bite-sized facts!
mental_floss is proud to offer a delicious, hearty helping of brain-food that's sure to fire up your neurons and tantalize your synapses. Condensed Knowledge is a mouthwatering mix of intriguing facts, lucid explanations, and mind-blowing theories that will satisfy even the hungriest mind!
Ingredients include:
5 tiny nations that get no respect • 4 civilizations nobody remembers • 5 classics written under the influence • 4 things your boss has in common with slime mold • 3 schools of thought that will impress the opposite sex • 4 things Einstein got wrong • 5 classical tunes you know from the movies • 3 famous studies that would be illegal today • 2 religious mysteries solved by chemistry • 5 scandals that rocked art, and much more ...
Ken Jennings's Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days
by Ken Jennings
from Villard
Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac is the ingeniously organized book where, for a change, the all-time Jeopardy! champ gets to ask the questions–and where every day of the year will give you the chance to test your trivia mettle.
For example–February 21: In 1912, on this day, Teddy Roosevelt coined the political phrase “hat in the ring,” so Ken Jennings fires off a series of “ring” questions. What two NFL quarterbacks have four Super Bowl rings each?* What rings are divided by the Cassini Division?** Also on this date, in 1981, the “goth” music scene was born in London, so here’s a quiz on black-clad icons like Darth Vader, Johnny Cash, and Zorro. Do you know the secret identities of Ivanhoe’s Black Knight*** or Men in Black’s Agent M****?
In this ultimate book for trivia buffs and other assorted know-it-alls, the 365 entries feature “This Day in History” factoids, trivia quizzes, and questions categorized by Jennings as “Easy,” “Hard,” and “Yeah, Good Luck.” Topics cover every subject under the sun, from paleontology to mixology, sports feats to Bach suites, medieval popes to daytime soaps. This addictive gathering of facts, oddities, devilishly clever quizzes, and other flights of fancy will make each day a fun and intriguing new challenge.
Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things
by Charles Panati
from Harper Paperbacks
For lovers of facts, students of popular culture, history buffs, and science enthusiasts, the fascinating stories behind 500 everyday items, expressions, and customs--from Kleenex to steak sauce, Barbie Dolls to honeymoons.
5087 Trivia Questions & Answers
by Marsha Kranes
from Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Taking Trivial Pursuit to the extreme, this book offers trivia buffs hours of toil testing their knowledge and fact finding skills with a huge collection of intriguing but little known facts.
The book features wonderfully arcane questions with often surprising answers organized by topic, from language, art, government and sports to film, history, science, religion, business and food.
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