alanconnor.com/log

Update 2 Nov 2017: Now in paperback.

My book The Joy of Quiz has been published. Here’s the blurb:

• An absolute must-read for anyone who loves quizzes. Alan knows everything, knows everyone, and writes beautifully too. I loved it! (Richard Osman)

• Alan Connor has the mind of an entertainer and the soul of a quizzer. I can’t think of anyone better placed to lead readers through this weird, wonderful, competitive and dastardly trivial pursuit (Victoria Coren Mitchell)

• A jaunty journey into the world of the quiz, from the question editor of BBC2’s Only Connect, sometimes in the form of 300 excellent quiz questions

In 1938 Britain started to quiz. Since then, quizzes have become ubiquitous entertainment from pubs to primetime, suffered major criminal investigations, created unlikely folk heroes and been subjected to the rigours of question checkers.

The Joy of Quiz tells the history of quiz and its makers, wonders how we came to make a game out of remembering scraps of information, looks at the tactics of professional quizzers and reveals the shadowy worlds of setters and checkers.

Along the way, it asks questions such as ‘What is a fact, anyway?’ and ‘Whatever happened to prizes like sandwich toasters?’

You can order from your local bookshop, or from Penguin, Waterstones, Amazon, on Kindle, at Google Play etc…

★★★★★ Connor, like all the best quiz masters, is a genial, companiable host… He writes with wit and fluency… Above all, Connor succeeds in communicating the joy of quiz without taking it all too seriously. An absolute delight. — Simon Humphreys, Mail on Sunday

Book of the Day: Connor, whose last book was a charming look into the history and culture of the crossword, has again succeeded in explaining the enduring popularity of a curious pastime. The Joy of Quiz offers an entertaining sideways social history that takes in debates over quizzing and public morals, government oversight, and – I’ve started so I’ll finish – the strange things otherwise ordinary people will undergo to win a round of drinks. — John Gallagher, Guardian

Book of the Month: Alan Connor’s hugely entertaining book… gives us a cheerfully fascinating history of the whole quizzing business — Reader’s Digest Recommended Read

An absolute treasure trove of good stuff — Stuart Maconie, BBC 6Music

• Today programme, Radio 4, 25 Oct 2016, with John Humphrys and Anna Ptaszynski [audio] [video]
• Radcliffe & Maconie, 6Music, 4 Nov 2016
• Mark Forrest BBC Radio show, 7 Nov 2016
• Signing at Blackwells Holborn Book Quiz, 6.30pm, 10 Nov 2016
• Talk, Richmond Literary Festival, 7pm, 24 Nov 2016 [slides]
• Playful Book Quiz, Waterstones Guildford, 7pm, 1 Dec 2016
• The Monocle Weekly, Monocle Radio, 4 Dec 2016
• Playful Book Quiz, Waterstones Birmingham, 6.30pm, 7 Dec 2016
• Playful Book Quiz, Waterstones Brighton, 7.30pm, 14 Dec 2016
• Mid-Morning Show, BBC Radio Leeds, 5 Jan 2017
• Radio 2 Book Club, Radio 2, 6 Mar 2017
• Boring Conference, 6 May 2017 [tickets]
• Kew Bookshop Playful Quiz Evening, Tap on the Line pub, 8pm, 11 May 2017
• Talk, Festival of Learning, 7pm, 7 June 2017 [tickets]
• Chiswick Book Festival, Waterstones Chiswick, 7pm, 13 Sept 2017 [and prize quiz available at all events]
• Weekend, World Service, 4 Nov 2017
• Mid-Morning Show, BBC Radio Leeds, 13 Nov 2017
• Post-Christmas Quiz with Boatman, 6.45pm, 25 Jan 2018, Blackwells High Holborn [tickets]

Here’s a playlist of the music mentioned in the book:

• 320 pages
• £14.99 RRP hardback; £8.99 paperback
• 3 November 2016 hardback; 2 November 2017 paperback
• Penguin Books / Particular imprint
• ISBN: 1846148685 and 978-1846148682; 0141980842 and 978-0141980843
• Goodreads · LibraryThing · Pinterest · Spotify · Facebook
• Previously: Two Girls, One on Each Knee: The Puzzling, Playful World of the Crossword