Final Jeopardy: Bestselling Books (7-31-14)
The Final Jeopardy question (7/31/2014), in the category “Bestselling Books” was:
This novel is dedicated to Esther Earl who died of thyroid cancer at 16 & never got to read it.
Jeff Xie ($20,001); Alan Koolik, ($20,801); and Cooper Lair ($40,400) are the finalists in the 2014 Teen Tournament. They are now engaged in a 2-day battle for the $75,000 top prize and today is the first match.
Round 1: Alan found the Jeopardy! round Daily Double in “You Wish You’d Read the Scarlet Letter” under the $600 clue, the third one chosen. He was the only one with any money — $600. He bet the $1,000 allowance and he was RIGHT.
This Christian group is called “the most intolerant brood that ever lived.” show
Jeff finished in the lead with $7,400. Alan was second with $5,800 and Cooper was last with $2,400.
Round 2: Jeff found the first Daily Double in “Exploration” under the $1,200 clue, the 4th clue chosen in the round and he had answered the other 3 correctly. He was now in the lead with $10,200, $4,400 ahead of Alan in second place. He bet $2,000 and he was RIGHT.
In 1892, 17 years before his North Pole fame, Robert Peary proved this was an island, not part of a continent. show
Alan found the last Daily Double in “Before He Was President” under the $1,600 clue. He was tied for the lead with Jeff at $10,600. They both had $3,000 more than Cooper. He bet $3,000 and he was RIGHT.
He was Thomas Jefferson’s Secretary of State. show
Alan finished in the lead with $19,200. Jeff was next with $17,000 and Cooper was in third place with $5,600.
Only ONE of the contestants got Final Jeopardy! right.
On his website JohnGreenBooks.com, the page dedicated to “The Fault in Our Stars” lists the accolades heaped upon the novel and its author. Just to name a few, it was named Time Magazine’s No. 1 Fiction Book of the Year; it has been made into a film starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort; and has been on many bestseller lists.
On the FAQ page, John Green has pages where he answers questions about his works. Coincidentally, one of the questions on this book ties into today’s show: “How do you put so much meaning into a book meant for young adults?” He replied “Teenagers are plenty smart. I don’t sit around and worry whether teenagers are smart. I mean, most of the people currently reading The Scarlet Letter and The Great Gatsby…are teenagers.” That Scarlet Letter category was the first one the teen went through today.
Cooper didn’t write anything down. He lost his $5,400 bet and finished with $200.
Jeff wrote down “The Secret Life of Bees”. He only lost $2,000 and finished with $15,000.
Alan got it right. He bet $5,800 so he finished up with $25,000.
Well, the biggest FJ shock here was that the NY Times left the T off “this” so that the clue read “His novel,” leading us to think in today’s Spoiler Talk that they were looking for the name of the author!
The players take what they won into tomorrow’s match and that gives Alan a pretty nice lead, but doesn’t guarantee him the win by any means. Anything can happen tomorrow.
3 years ago in the first match of the Teen Tournament finals, : ALL of the players got this FJ in “20th Century Authors”
A novel set during the Depression earned this author a 1940 Pulitzer Prize & contributed to him winning a Nobel Prize in 1962 show
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Although I don’t agree with you that Alan’s winning is a foregone conclusion, I have never read a more agreeable posting written by you. Recently, a friend commented that you never have anything good to say about anyone. As she is rarely wrong, I am glad that she is a little less right this time.
Thank you, sir, for sharing your happiness.
P.S. please don’t tell us tomorrow that someone had seized your computer, even if Jeff wins.
*meant as a reply to Tom Clark*
Your friend hasn’t read my complete works! 🙂
I said nice things about Julia Collins and a few others. Your friend needs to watch that word “never.” You should never say “never!” And you should always avoid “always!”
007 fan?? 🙂
Tom, I looked on Amazon and simply could not find your complete works!
Btw, I, too am glad to hear you are happy. However, I also hope that you will be just as happy when Jeff goes all Roger Craig and wins. #lumosityfan #game theory
I complain about contestants so much, I’m happy to say nothing but nice things today.
Alan strikes me as an ideal Jeopardy contestant. He’s quiet and unassuming, with none of the Chu shtick that can be so irritating. He just plays the game in a straightforward way. He doesn’t seem to ring in unless he’s sure of the answer and he’s hardly ever been wrong. That he’s bright and knowledgable beyond his age goes without saying.
I also liked the fact that he appreciates classic musical theater and isn’t afraid to say so on national television!
I must say I also like Jeff Xie’s enthusiasm. He’s so happy when he’s right and yet he doesn’t seem egotistical about it. I also suspect he’ll be a good loser when Alan wins tomorrow. 🙂
Tomorrow should be exciting. I’m pretty sure that Jeff is going to pull out all the stops to try to catch up and win. But I do agree, if he doesn’t win, he’ll be a good sport about it.
PS — Just to illustrate how things can turn around quickly — Jeff had a big lead with $10,200 at the end of the first category (Explorers) in Double Jeopardy. At that point, Alan had $5,800 and Cooper had $4,400.
well, your assessment of alan is basically the same as mine (see post below). he is mature beyond his years, able to control himself (not to ring in too early, which will defeat jeff eventually since he locks himself out) and disciplined. i don’t know if just for this tt, but i am very impressed by him overall.
Yes, VJ. Thanks :). So I got it correct after all. And William asked how I rate the book. So here are my thoughts on it. Not too highly. Honestly William, the teens got too witty for me. No teens are that witty or that literary :). Ok, they read more than your normal kids, but they also watch marathon runs of reality shows and they also play video games all day. And just having a terminal illness doesn’t turn you into a social genius suddenly. There are plenty of adults who get caught in social situations and cannot think of witty comebacks, and here’s this teen saying, “I love it when you talk medical to me,” :). Haha, improbable. Also, plenty of adults are stumped when it comes to planning the perfect date, yet this kid here so nonchalantly paints the town orange.
The kids talked and acted like adult characters in a play that has plenty of wit, but no real substance. My friend was able to get it off my table because I didn’t have it in my hand :).
i could not agree with you more. “love story” it ain’t.and that was only so successful because the only other main story on the news was vietnam. plus, as you said, times have changed. it’s not 1970 anymore ( see my post far below)…:-)
today you don’t know, what is the real headline: stock market tanking,gaza, airliner in ukraine shot down,argentina defaulting etc etc…and all reported as it happens. there was no internet in 1970….no immediate news. the assassination of JFK took almost an hour to hit the european newswires….
Shailene Woodley, the actress with the lead role in The Fault in Our Stars is the same one who had the lead in Secret Life of the American Teenager (SLOTAT). She is often hyped to go on to be a very serious actress.
Funny you mention Ali MacGraw, John. I’ve thought that the actress who played the kid sister on SLOTAT, India Eisley, could play Ali MacGraw in a biopic. In real life, Eisley is the daughter of Olivia Hussey, Zeffirelli’s Juliet.
Well, my friend, there are a couple of inferences which may be drawn here: 1) only lend Nomi books that aren’t very good, unless you’re willing to pry them from her hands and 2) I guess that you borrowed the book to catch up on the reality shows and/or gamer lingo. Ha!
In all reality, sometimes there are people whose very presence makes you feel even more alive, allows you think clearer, and verbalize like with no one else. I didn’t read the book, but I know of this power of Love. Perhaps, that’s the inspiration the author felt.
Congrats John. You said 1 contestant would get fj correct. This was a good match.
@vj, we had a good discussion anyway on CotD even though NYT left off a letter.
True and Nomi gets to count her answer as correct. Bill went with one correct guess, too.
Man, I was surprised as all get out because I didn’t realize the mistake till after Alan’s answer was accepted!
True. Nomi knew the title of the book and movie. Bill was over/under 1-ish. I could have stood there all day and all night and still not come up with the title.
Alan said he had read the book. Sound like he was saying something about his mother but Alex moved on and Alan did not finish his sentence. Do you think he was going to say she bought the book? It would have been nice to know. If she did he owes her a big thanks. Not sure.
Jacob, in response to Alex asking him if he read the book, Alan said “Yes, I have. I love it.” Alex said “Good for you” at about the same time Alan was saying “I love it” then Alex said: “It’s paid off, how much?
Thanks vj for the clarification. The conversation was overlapping between Alan and Alex at the end.
that was, when i still thought they would ask for the author. now, that 2 whiffed on the TITLE, i am not sure whether alan knows the author. but i believe he does. j does not air until an hour from now here in hawaii. so i would have gone with one either way. and the reason, as i said: 3 guys. the reason alan knew, was because his MOTHER (!) most likely read/bought the book. if we had 1 or 2 ladies in the finals, my prediction would have matched the # of females.
i know this sounds terribly chauvinistic, but i don’t know how else to express it. it seems that this book is in reading what in movies is called a “chick flick”, and i don’t mean that in any negative way. just that the protagonist and the entire story
seem to appeal more to a female audience, so to speak. sort of like “love story”. although that movie was much more popular, but then “the fault in our stars” just came out in june. it might over the decades become a second “love story”, but “L.ST.” has a 44 year head start and the actors in “the fault…” are not exactly o’neil and mac graw. i apologize if i offended any lady with my opinion. there are also “guy” movies, where a girl or woman would not be caught dead watching it.