UID:
kobvindex_ZLB34926345
ISBN:
9780593136720
Content:
" The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world.&ldquo,ven though I&rsquo,e never attempted the New York Times crossword puzzle or solved the Rubik&rsquo, Cube, I couldn&rsquo, put down The Puzzler .&rdquo,mdash,retchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before What makes puzzles&mdash,igsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus&mdash,o satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they&rsquo,e among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A.J. Jacobs&mdash,our-time New York Times bestselling author, master of immersion journalism, and nightly crossworder&mdash,et out to determine their myriad benefits. And maybe, in the process, solve the puzzle of our very existence. Well, almost. In The Puzzler, Jacobs meets the most zealous devotees, enters (sometimes with his family in tow) any puzzle competition that will have him, unpacks the history of the most popular puzzles, and aims to solve the most impossible head-scratchers, from a mutant Rubik&rsquo, Cube, to the hardest corn maze in America, to the most sadistic jigsaw. Chock-full of unforgettable adventures and original examples from around the world&mdash,ncluding new work by Greg Pliska, one of America&rsquo, top puzzle-makers, and a hidden, super-challenging but solvable puzzle that will earn the first reader to crack it a $10,000 prize*&mdash,i〉The Puzzler will open readers&rsquo,eyes to the power of flexible thinking and concentration. Whether you&rsquo,e puzzle obsessed or puzzle hesitant, you&rsquo,l walk away with real problem-solving strategies and pathways toward becoming a better thinker and decision maker&mdash,or these are certainly puzzling times. 160 *NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. U.S. Residents, 18+. Ends May 3, 2023. Additional terms and conditions may apply. See book for details. "
Content:
Biographisches: " A.J. Jacobs is a journalist, lecturer, and human guinea pig who has written four bestselling books&mdash,ncluding Drop Dead Healthy and The Year of Living Biblically &mdash,hat blend memoir, science, humor, and a dash of self-help. A contributor to NPR, The New York Times, and Esquire, among other media outlets, Jacobs lives in New York City with his family. He was once the answer to 1-Down in the New York Times crossword puzzle." Rezension(2): "〈a href=http://www.publishersweekly.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/pw_logo.png alt=Publisher's Weekly border=0 /〉〈/a〉: February 14, 2022 “Puzzles are not a waste of time. Doing puzzles can make us better thinkers, more creative, more incisive, more persistent,” argues journalist and avid puzzler Jacobs ( The Know-It-All ) in this riveting cultural analysis. Showcasing his knack for immersive detail with fascinating takes on crosswords, jigsaws, and secret codes, he makes a convincing case that, beyond helping “stav off dementia” (which, he writes, there’s “mild evidence” for), puzzles can make people more evolved humans by requiring them to adopt “a mindset of ceaseless curiosity about everything in the world.” For centuries, he writes, anagrams have fueled humans’ obsessions with hidden meanings—Galileo loved them so much that he hid his discoveries in anagrammatic poems. And visual puzzles, such as Where’s Waldo, encourage people to question their first impressions and examine their surroundings more closely. Jacobs enriches his narrative with interviews with puzzle designers and devotees, along with accounts of his attending several puzzle tournaments—among them a jigsaw championship in Spain where he proudly placed “second to last.” The inclusion of tools to crack the code to all sorts of puzzles, and a section of original work by famed puzzler Greg Pliska, only add to the infectious charm. A rallying cry for “word nerds” everywhere, this is a delight." Rezension(3): "〈a href=http://lj.libraryjournal.com/ target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/libraryjournal_logo.png alt=Library Journal border=0 /〉〈/a〉: March 1, 2022 This multifaceted memoir explores Jacobs's ( Thanks a Thousand ) personal relationship with puzzles but also discusses the broader history (and controversies) of puzzles. Jacobs is himself a crossword enthusiast, but for this book he branches out to research puzzles outside his wheelhouse (math and word puzzles,Rubik's Cubes,mazes,riddles) and engagingly interviews puzzle experts. He also offers his own theories as to why people love to puzzle and why the English language works so well for word puzzles. This book shines for its interactive format, featuring more than 100 historical puzzles, plus 10 original puzzles created for the book by Greg Pliska (hints and solutions are included). It also offers a challenge: Jacobs has hidden a secret puzzle in the book and says that the first reader to solve it will win a cash prize of $10,000. VERDICT A fun, interactive exploration of the history and hidden world of puzzles. A must-read for puzzle enthusiasts of all skill levels. --Cate TriolaCopyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission. " Rezension(4): "〈a href=http://www.kirkusreviews.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/kirkus_logo.png alt=Kirkus border=0 /〉〈/a〉: March 15, 2022 The George Plimpton of thought experiments takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of puzzles, from crosswords to mazes and beyond. In his latest foray into lighthearted, experiential journalism, Jacobs opens with the thrilling discovery that he'd been used as a clue in a New York Times crossword puzzle--a thrill lessened somewhat by appearing in the hard-to-solve Saturday edition, proof that I'm totally obscure, the very embodiment of irrelevance. Undeterred, the author, a puzzle addict whose interests embrace not just crosswords, but also mazes, secret codes, riddles, logic puzzles, and other nerdy pursuits, embarked on a quest to find puzzle makers and solvers in dusty warrens, convention centers, and other venues. TheTimes, he discovered, was late in the game when it came to crosswords, having sniffed that they were too lowbrow, too frivolous. Under the guidance of the learned but democratically minded Will Shortz, the paper has become the gold standard of crosswords. Throughout, Jacobs ventures theories on how the puzzles sharpen the brain, help us solve real-world problems, and are an existential grasp at certainty and closure in an uncertain world. Sometimes they induce despair, as the author's early encounters with the Rubik's Cube reveal. He was hardly more cheered after an international jigsaw-puzzle competition in which he was bested by a man from Uganda who later told me he is color-blind. Corn mazes, secret codes, chess gambits, the river-crossing problem, and the Tower of Hanoi: Jacobs is refreshingly captivated by every kind of mental challenge, it seems, and his enthusiasm serves this lively--and puzzle-stuffed--book well. The author even proves to be his own riddler, promising that there is a secret puzzle hidden in the book, the first solver of which will receive $10,000: I figured I couldn't write a book on puzzles that didn't contain a secret one itself. A barrel of monkeys' worth of fun for the puzzle addict in the household. COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. " Rezension(5): "〈a href=https://www.booklistonline.com target=blank〉〈img src=https://images.contentreserve.com/booklist_logo.png alt=Booklist border=0 /〉〈/a〉: April 15, 2022 Jacobs explores the puzzling world of puzzles in this ridiculously entertaining book. Readers familiar with his previous books, including The Know-It-All (2004) and The Year of Living Biblically (2007), will know that this author tends to take a hands-on approach to his material. He doesn't just write about something--he lives it. Here, he evolves from a guy who is generally ambivalent about puzzles to a serious enthusiast. He enters competitions, gets to know some of the bigwigs of the puzzling world (it really is a fascinating subculture), and ruminates on some of life's bigger questions and how puzzles can sometimes point us toward the answers. He writes in a light, conversational style, as though he were sitting in our living rooms and telling us a story or two. He makes us think without making a big deal about it, telling us what puzzling came to mean to him and inviting us to join him in his voyage of discovery. The book is a lot of fun, but it's the serious stuff that gives it weight. COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. "
Language:
English
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