Rating
The Pequod Review:
Claire McNear's book Answers in the Form of Questions is a short and breezy overview of the game show Jeopardy!, covering its history, contestants, production staff, and overall playing strategy. McNear shows how the 1950s quiz show scandals were a key influence on the game's initial structure — both in its answer-and-question format, as well as behind-the-scenes practices that endure to the present day (for example, because the host knows the clues he is not permitted to come into contact with any contestants prior to being on camera). She also covers the contestant screening process, which is so rigorous (and arbitrary) that the 32-time champion James Holzhauer had to take the online test thirteen times and attend the in-person audition twice before he finally made it to Jeopardy! This is nowhere near a definitive history and many of McNear's details will already be familiar to moderately-informed readers, but it's still a useful overview.