Friday, February 6, 2009

Final Jeopardy

Last night I watched Jeopardy for the first time in months. But I missed the Final Jeopardy question.



I had no idea. All I could think was Ring Lardner-- one of the losers on the show guessed Lardner too. Wrong!



The answer was (Alfred) Damon Runyon (1884-1946) His style was so outrageous and individual that it's called Runyonesque. The style relies on metaphors, slang, and present tense storytelling. (Source: The Reader's Encyclopedia - Wm. R. Benét)

I've never read any of Runyon's work, but have seen Guys & Dolls, and did enjoy the film based on his story The Lemon Drop Kid (Bob Hope played the kid.)

13 comments:

Avid Reader said...

Who is up for a virtual reading group - that would meet here (?) ideas appreciated. thanks.

R.L. Bourges said...

A R: I like the idea. My only problem is when I'm writing (which is just about all the time), I'm VERY idiosyncratic in my reading habits - tend to go off in tangents. So from me... a tentative yes, maybe.

Avid Reader said...

Me too. I've tried book challenges in the past and sometimes fall behind--then they start to feel like assignments. Maybe a short story would work better, although I have read books suggested by comments. If the book is great, and there's enough time...
anyway, we can comment /join in even if we only read a few chapters, right?

R.L. Bourges said...

sounds like a plan to me.

tut-tut said...

Not a bad idea, Avid . . . Why not give a timeframe, and those who finish, do and those who don't, don't?

mouse (aka kimy) said...

i had guessed ring lardner too...so as weird al sang, i lost at jeopardy baby.....

i'm a bit of a jeopardy junkie altho not as bad as i used to be when i would have the vcr programmed to tape jeopardy everyday and if i missed it when it came on at 7:30 i would try and make sure to watch it before going to sleep - even if that meant staying up an extra half hour - thank goodness i've been able to control that madness.... now I may average getting in two or three shows a week....

since i have a terra firma bookgroup, i probably will pass on the virtual bookgroup but it's a terrific idea! i started a book blog a while back with hopes that my bookgroup would want to all participate on bringing our bookgroup to the blogosphere, but unfortunately no one took the bait.... i should post a follow up each month to our meetings - a kind of how many thumbs up how many thumbs down thing, or something like that....

hey, if your virtual bookgroup adopts my bookgroup's book, i' surely join - tee hee..... speaking of which, my bookgroup meets wed and i need to finish the book to pass it on to another of the bookwomen on monday morning....

have a good weekend!

e said...

A virtual book group...sounds fun...

Mr. Runyon might be an interesting choice for a group...I am not old enough to remember his work.

Avid: I'm curious, how did you develop your love of books/reading???

Happy Weekend!

Megan said...

I'm up for it. Definitely.

That's a pretty tough final jep question.

Barbara said...

I'm always amazed that people actually know this kind of trivia.

Anonymous said...

Who is Bob Hope?

tut-tut said...

What Stendal, The Red and the Black?

tut-tut said...

Or The Poisonwood Bible?? I have it, but have never read it. It seems to have been an Oprah pick.

Avid Reader said...

I'm up for either one. So many Oprah picks, where does she find the time?

My Classic Fiction Book List -Partial List

  • Austen, Jane: (Complete Works)
  • Balzac: Cousin Bette/ Eugenie Grandet / Cousin Pons
  • Best Russian Short Stories
  • Boyle, TC: Short Works
  • Brennan, Maeve : Short Works, 1 Novella
  • Bronte, Emily, Ann, Jane (Complete Works)
  • Brookner, Anita ( Complete Works)
  • Cather, Willa (Complete Works)
  • Chekov: Short Works
  • David Copperfield (Dickens)
  • Dickens:A Tale of Two Cities
  • Dickens:Great Expectations
  • Dickens:Nicholas Nickelby
  • Dickens:Our Mutual Friend
  • Dickens:The Old Curiosity Shop
  • Doyle, Roddy (some novels, memoir)
  • Drabble, Margaret (4 Novels)
  • Drieser, Theodore (Complete Works)
  • Fitzgerald, F.Scott (Most Novels & short works)
  • Hardy, Thomas (Complete Works)
  • Hemingway, Short stories
  • Hemingway: The Old Man in the Sea
  • Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises
  • Hugo: Les Miserables/Hunchback Of ND
  • James, Henry: Daisy Miller
  • James, Henry: In The Cage
  • James, Henry: Portrait of a Lady
  • James, Henry: The Golden Bowl
  • James, Henry: What Maisy Knew
  • James, Henry: Wings of a Dove
  • James, Henry:The Ambassadors
  • James, Henry; The Bostonians
  • Kerouac: Dharma Bums
  • Kerouac: On The Road
  • Kerouac: The Subterraneans
  • Kerouac: Tristessa
  • Lardner,Ring:Short Works
  • Larsen: Quicksand
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Arrowsmith
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Free Air
  • Lewis, Sinclair: Main Street
  • Lewis, Sinclair: The Job
  • MacGill, Patrick (Complete works)
  • Mackin, Walter (novels)
  • Maupassant: Short Works, novels
  • McGahern, John (novels of)
  • McNulty, John (Short Works)
  • Norris, Frank: McTeague
  • O'Brien, Edna (3 Novels)
  • O'Donnell, Paeder : Novels of
  • O. Henry
  • Potok, Chaim (4 novels/1 non fiction)
  • Salinger, JD : Nine Stories
  • Salinger: Franny & Zooey
  • Salinger: Raise High the Roofbeams
  • Salinger: The Catcher in the Rye
  • Sinclair, Lewis: Dodsworth
  • Sinclair, Lewis: Elmer Gantry
  • Sinclair, Upton: King Coal
  • Sinclair, Upton: The Jungle
  • Steinbeck, John: Sweet Thursday
  • Steinbeck: Winter of our Discontent
  • Steinbeck: Cannery Row
  • Steinbeck: East of Eden
  • Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath
  • Theroux, Paul (3 Novels )
  • Toibin, Colm: (Novels of)
  • Tolstoy: Anna Karenina
  • Tolstoy: Short Works
  • Turgenev (2 novels)
  • Twain: T Sawyer, Life on the Mississippi
  • Vonnegut: Early Works (1950s-60s)
  • Wharton, Edith: Novels of/Short Stories
  • Women & Fiction (Edit. Cahill)
  • Zola, Emile ( 10 novels)