National Book Awards Word Quiz

You’re listening to A Way with Words. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette. And we are joined once again by our quiz guy, Mr. John Chaneski.

Hello, fans. Hello, Martha. Hello, Grant. How are you doing?

Hi, John. How are you doing?

I’m doing great. And I have something very interesting for you today.

I love books. Who doesn’t, right?

Yeah, yeah, sure.

This year, my wife, Jennifer Michael Heck, the author, is one of the five judges of the nonfiction category of the National Book Awards.

Oh, really?

We have received, no lie, in the past two months over 500 non-fiction titles in the mail.

Holy moly.

Does she have to read all of them?

Well, they have to pick a winner. They don’t have to read all of them.

That’s what she says.

But there are five of them doing it together. They have a system, they’re working it out. It’s quite impressive.

I love the clever way that some of these books are titled.

Now, here’s the quiz. I’ll give you the title of an actual non-fiction book that has come out, or is coming out this year, and I want you to take a stab at guessing what the book is about.

Oh, love this.

All right.

Good, good.

Now, whether you guess it or not, I’ll follow with three options you can pick from those. And, you know, it might confirm your original answer or maybe you’ll change your mind.

Okay.

For example, The Watchers. Now, what do you think that could be about?

The Watchers. It’s science fiction about a town in Texas that, never mind. I don’t know.

It’s a Swiss family that builds wooden watches.

Oh, that’s good.

Those are both very good. Except don’t forget, these are nonfiction titles.

Oh, nonfiction. So they’re not going to be science fiction.

Yes.

But here are three choices. Is it about Nielsen audiences, surveillance in America, or pediatric dentistry?

Oh, it’s the second one. It’s the surveillance in America.

Yeah, it is the second. The title is The Watchers, colon, The Rise of America’s Surveillance State by Shane Harris.

Okay, very good.

Okay, here’s the first book. Well, technically the second book. Here’s a book called Extra Lives.

Extra Lives. This is a fortified cat food.

No, no, it’s the history of video games.

Okay, here are your choices. An examination of computer and platform games and their meaning. Awesome. An expose into the science of cryogenics. The memoir of an unknown actor who’s been in over 150 films.

Oh, I like the last one. That sounds like a book pitch, but I still think it’s the video games.

It is called Extra Lives, Why Video Games Matter by Tim Bissell.

Okay, very cool.

It’s not fortified cat food?

No, it’s not fortified cat food.

Okay.

But I might be writing that book soon. Just so you know, out of about 525 books received, this is the only one that I have read and finished is Extra Lives.

Okay.

About the video games.

All right, very good.

Here’s the next one. Sweetness and Blood.

Oh, wow. The inside story of A Way with Words.

No, I think it’s a history of diabetes treatment in America.

That’s interesting.

Here are your choices. First is a history of the American ballet theater, a history of heavy metal music, a history of surfing.

Ooh. That’s hard. That’s difficult.

I’d say the first one.

I’d say the second one.

It is the third. A history of surfing. The title of the book is Sweetness and Blood, How Surfing Spread from Hawaii and California to the Rest of the World with Some Unexpected Results by Michael Scott Moore.

Oh, okay. Making a note. Wow. I’m excited.

All right. Here is the next one. Shock of Gray.

It’s a biography of Susan Sontag.

Nice one.

No, I bet it’s about the aging of America.

Interesting.

Sorry, by saying nice one, I guess I telegraphed the fact that it’s not about Susan Sontag.

That’s okay.

But the options are the story of the South during the Civil War, the story of writer and monologous Spalding Gray, the story of the aging of the world’s population.

Oh, C, Shock of Gray. I’m voting for the last one.

Yeah, the last one.

It is C, Shock of Gray. Get ready for this. The Aging of the World’s Population and How It Pits Young Against Old, Child Against Parent, Worker Against Boss, Company Against Rival, and Nation Against Nation by Ted C. Fishman.

Well, Fishman has set out a big agenda. I wonder if he accomplishes it.

Wow. What’s the font size on that title?

It’s pretty tiny.

Pretty tiny.

All right. What else you got for us?

Here’s the next one. It’s real short. Last Call.

It’s about switching your phone company.

Interesting. Let me give you the options, okay? It’s either about The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, The Rise and Fall of the Personal Pager, The Rise and Fall of Square Dancing in America.

Oh, Square Dancing is alive and well. It’s got to be the first one.

Yeah, the Personal Pager did decline. I don’t understand the call reference. It’s got to be the first one.

Yep, first one.

That is correct. Last call. The title is The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent.

Oh, the former public editor of the New York Times.

That’s right.

Oh, very good.

Here’s the last one. The Possessed.

My car.

It’s about lost luggage.

The Possessed. Is it an examination of the world of people who hoard? Is it a history of the paparazzi? Is it a study of people obsessed with Russian literature?

I kind of like the people who are possessed by their possessions. That’s where I would go.

The hoarders.

That’s not a bad way of looking at that. We received a book about people obsessed with their possessions, hoarders, but it’s called Stuff.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

Okay. This book, The Possessed, is Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman.

Really? Interesting.

And that’s my quiz on book titles. You guys were just fantastic and very entertaining.

Thank you so much.

That was fascinating. I’d love to do another one of those sometimes.

Me too.

That’s a new kind of quiz. We haven’t done that before.

Glad you like it. By the way, I hope you know what you’re going to be getting for Christmas.

500 books?

Yeah.

Something like that.

Hey, John, thanks a lot.

Yeah, thanks, John. It was great to see you.

Thank you.

Well, if you want to talk about books or words or slang or punctuation, call us 1-877-929-9673.

That’s 1-877-929-9673 or send an email to words@waywordradio.org.