The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life (original 2020; edición 2020)

This is a must read for anyone who loves Jeopardy. Trebek shares anecdotes from his life and career along with advice and reflections on his dire cancer diagnosis. It’s told with his trademark dry sense of humor and this narrated both by him and by Ken Jennings. It was the perfect short read during a remote weekend get away. Very entertaining and interesting if you’re already a fan. He seems like such a down-to-earth individual, despite his fame. ( )

With a motivation to “stay ahead of the tabloids” and “to respond to [viewers’] outpouring of care, good wishes, and prayers,” George Alexander (“Alex”) Trebek assembles 82 short reminiscences into this memoir of his personal and professional life -- from childhood and family in Canada, through marriage and more than 30 years as host of Jeopardy! in the US, through good works worldwide, to the approach of his death last year. Accompanied by lots of photos. It is an interesting and entertaining memoir, and Alex seems a humble ordinary man, a good guy. ( )

Genuine, heartfelt reflections of Alex Trebek in his last days, which will leave you wanting more.

I probably read this book at the wrong time. I had it on my list to read and I had just finished Leave The World Behind, when Alex Trebek passed away. I was only a chapter or two in when, tragically, my close friend of many years passed away suddenly of a stroke. So, this should give you a good idea of where my head was at for this read.

This is a very quick, very easy read. There are about eighty chapters but pretty much all of them are only a page or two. Each chapter is a quick story from Alex's life that he felt moved to include. This book was written this year, and Alex talks at length about the Coronavirus and having to live through a pandemic. The stories provide little glimpses into the life of this man we have all seen for so many years on TV. Toward the end of the book Alex gets into deeper themes of facing death, what it means to have cancer, and his thoughts on what is to come next.

I was happy to have had this chance to feel closer to the man, but it really was a brief glimpse of him. For me, this is a 3 out of 5 star book, which means I like it and I would recommend it but it doesn't get 4 or 5 stars because there just isn't enough there to lift it to the higher ratings. What is does have, probably more so than any other book on Trebek's life, is a clear picture of his thoughts and feelings in his last days. Not a bad book by any means, but it will leave you wanting more (as Alex Trebek always did)!

3 out of 5 stars ( )

In short vignettes, Jeopardy! game show host Alex Trebek reflects on his life, from growing up in a small town in Canada to coming to the U.S., getting married, and working.

It actually took me a little while to warm up to the short snippets, which sometimes seemed a little like a guy just answering questions with short stories, and not really delving deeply into any one thing. However, for me once he got to the Jeopardy! era things really took off, as Trebek talked about some of the more memorable moments and guests on the show, and that frankly interested me more than some of what he'd done before on shows I'd never heard of. However, as a whole, it does give you a well-rounded picture of who Trebek is as a person and what's important to him. Reading in multiple formats is a plus with this one - the audio is read primarily by previous Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings, with some read by Alex himself, and the way they play off each other from one to the other is fun. The book, though, is beautifully made with thick pages and many photographs included, so I recommend having both available. ( )

A most delightful read. ( )