- Paperback: 720 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; 2nd Revised edition edition (26 Oct 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140514651
- ISBN-13: 978-0140514650
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 485,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
A unique reference work for those taking part in or setting quizzes, this compilation is also a complement to crossword dictionaries for word game enthusiasts and a fascinating general compendium of facts, containing the kind of information that is often tantalizingly hard to find.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Quite simply THE greatest one-volume reference source for quiz-lovers. Thousands of facts in a wide range of areas often coverd by quizmasters, includes (without highlighting them) the answers to hundreds of the most-often asked questions.
One request to the compiler and publishers however - please don't make us wait quite so long for the next edition. I had the last edition and loved it, but many of its sections have been completely out-dated for some years now.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ah, the dear old quiz companion. I should think that if you're reading this review now, you're thinking about buying this second hand, since its been out of print for several years now.
I suppose you could say that I'm writing this review out of sentiment really. When I started writing pub quizzes, many, many years ago, the first version of this great little book was the one I could always turn to in my hour of need. Lets be clear about this. Its primarily a book for the quiz setter. What you get are handy little facts, ready to be slotted into questions for your quiz.
Its not perfect, and what's more it never was. Errors made in the first edition were never corrected in later ones- eg. - the lovers in Aida were BURIED alive, not BURNED alive - you see the difference one stray letter can make. If we're being pedantic it was Edward Hodges Bailey who sculpted Nelson, and not Edward Hodges Banley ! Its been superceded by far more comprehensive works such as Trevor Montague's A to Z of Nearly Everything. However it not just nostalgia or sentiment which means that I still return to this sometimes when setting a quiz.I like the arbitrariness, the quirkyness of what is included, and what is not. If you are a regular setter and you haven't got this in your library, then you can do worse than getting a second hand copy of the last edition. For all of its faults, this is an awful lot more useful than many of the quiz books out there.
I suppose you could say that I'm writing this review out of sentiment really. When I started writing pub quizzes, many, many years ago, the first version of this great little book was the one I could always turn to in my hour of need. Lets be clear about this. Its primarily a book for the quiz setter. What you get are handy little facts, ready to be slotted into questions for your quiz.
Its not perfect, and what's more it never was. Errors made in the first edition were never corrected in later ones- eg. - the lovers in Aida were BURIED alive, not BURNED alive - you see the difference one stray letter can make. If we're being pedantic it was Edward Hodges Bailey who sculpted Nelson, and not Edward Hodges Banley ! Its been superceded by far more comprehensive works such as Trevor Montague's A to Z of Nearly Everything. However it not just nostalgia or sentiment which means that I still return to this sometimes when setting a quiz.I like the arbitrariness, the quirkyness of what is included, and what is not. If you are a regular setter and you haven't got this in your library, then you can do worse than getting a second hand copy of the last edition. For all of its faults, this is an awful lot more useful than many of the quiz books out there.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a realist and do not buy into the unrealistic and illusionary desire to find a single work, however long, that contains the sum total of all the general knowledge that exists. Those that do are chasing something that is way beyond the ability of any human being to compile and is akin to living in cloud cuckoo land and highlights the need to return to Planet Earth.
Whilst The Pears Ultimate Quiz Companion with 720 pages barely scratches the surface at the font of all knowledge, it makes good use of research hand-in-hand with experience, in listing information that is likely to turn up as answers for many of the newspaper and journal General Knowledge Quizzes, that form the day's main challenge for many of us 'silver-solvers'. And in this respect it is reckoned that after completing the questions already known, The Pears Quiz Companion provides the answers to approximately 60% to 70% of the rest. The last resort, nowadays, is of course the internet, (particularly 'Auntie Wiki') where very often it becomes quite obvious that the Quiz Setter was also a prior visitor!
Frankly a success rate by using this Companion of 60% to 70% is more than satisfactory and very comparable if not better than several other Quiz Companion works also on our book shelves. The Pears is our reference point of first choice and is highly commended.
The other problem with 'silver solvers', with no known resolution is the onward march down the slippery slope of reduced memory storage facilities in the human brain, thus increasing the reliance on reference platforms of this type.
Whilst The Pears Ultimate Quiz Companion with 720 pages barely scratches the surface at the font of all knowledge, it makes good use of research hand-in-hand with experience, in listing information that is likely to turn up as answers for many of the newspaper and journal General Knowledge Quizzes, that form the day's main challenge for many of us 'silver-solvers'. And in this respect it is reckoned that after completing the questions already known, The Pears Quiz Companion provides the answers to approximately 60% to 70% of the rest. The last resort, nowadays, is of course the internet, (particularly 'Auntie Wiki') where very often it becomes quite obvious that the Quiz Setter was also a prior visitor!
Frankly a success rate by using this Companion of 60% to 70% is more than satisfactory and very comparable if not better than several other Quiz Companion works also on our book shelves. The Pears is our reference point of first choice and is highly commended.
The other problem with 'silver solvers', with no known resolution is the onward march down the slippery slope of reduced memory storage facilities in the human brain, thus increasing the reliance on reference platforms of this type.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
GOOD FOR WRONG ANSWERS
I have two editions of this work and must agree with those who are not all that impressed.It contains 'classical' errors often made in quizzes.
Published on 17 May 2006 by QUIZMAN
Too grand a title for a modest little volume
I really cant bring myself to recommend this book. As a serious quiz lover I couldnt rely on it to give me accurate information. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 2003
Simply does not deliver - unreliable
If I were a quiz compiler or a contestant in a TV quiz I could not,with confidence refer to this volume as an authority. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2003 by hijo3
A cornucopia of interesting facts and figures.
A great book for all quiz fanatics and those wishing to extend their knowledge of trivia. Easy to read, and entertaining also.
Published on 29 Oct 2000
A must for any serious quiz fanatic!
From page one, it's an absoulute gold mine of information. Not just helpful for an hour before that fun pub quiz on a Friday night, but also invaluable when wanting to check up on... Read more
Published on 27 April 2000
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