August 15, 2023
The Jeopardy! champion turns in a wryly funny memoir. "How are you so smart?" The question has dogged Schneider since childhood. The author is undeniably smart and not at all disinclined to show it off, whether with a joke about Immanuel Kant or a disquisition on English etymology and the virtues of knowing a little something about it. Other questions emerged after Schneider won a whopping $1,382,000 purse on her two-month championship run: "How does it feel to be so successful? What are you going to do with the money? How does it feel to be so trans?" About all these things, she has much to say. Clearly, the author is comfortable with the fame and money, and she is a winningly clear-voiced and often irreverent champion of trans rights as well. "Trans people are just people. They need to pee sometimes. Let them," she writes regarding gender bathroom controversies. On an equally personal note, Schneider enumerates what might be perceived as weaknesses that turn out to be Jeopardy! superpowers. For example, "ADD made me literally addicted to learning," and because the game rewards a broad base of knowledge more than mastery of a particular subject (incidentally, Schneider holds a doctorate in computer science), neurodivergence proved useful. Fittingly, the author darts from subject to subject: a complex love life, memories of teachers great and terrible, experimentation with drugs, notes on a political scene that finds her "targeted because many of my fellow citizens wish me ill, and base their vote at least in part on whether or not it will hurt me." Would-be Jeopardy! contestants should turn to Bob Harris' Prisoner of Trebekistan for the nuts-and-bolts of gameplay, but for a funny, memorable, philosophical take on life, Schneider's book is far and away the winner. Only incidentally about the show that won her fame, but a pleasure and an education awaits in the reading.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
August 28, 2023
Former Jeopardy! contestant Schneider, who became the most successful woman and trans person to participate on the show in 2022 after winning 40 consecutive games, debuts with a funny if scattershot memoir loosely organized around the “rich rewards” of her lifelong curiosity. In 21 essay-like chapters titled as Jeopardy! questions (“When Did You Know You Were Trans?”; “How Did You Lose Your Virginity?”), Schneider covers a lot of ground, weighing in on her Catholic childhood in Dayton, Ohio, and her early (and ongoing) questions about gender identity, as well as pop culture from Daria to the bizarre 1990 anti-drug TV special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. She clarifies off the bat that the book isn’t for young fans, making good on that disclaimer with candid passages about polyamory and drug use (cocaine served as “the medical treatment I didn’t know I needed for ADD” for a while), but fans of all ages may wish for more details about Schneider’s Jeopardy! stint, which is mostly relegated to casual asides until the final chapters. Humorous footnotes and a general sense of well-earned confidence keep things afloat, but by the end, the lack of focus starts to wear thin. This doesn’t quite live up to its potential. Agent: Cait Hoyt, CAA.
September 1, 2023
In her funny, conversational debut, Jeopardy contestant Amy Schneider, the most successful woman to ever compete on the show, recounts her journey to becoming a "Famous Celebrity Trans Person." Jumping between topics in a series of wide-ranging, nonlinear essays, she comments on everything from competing in the Pinewood Derby with her father to the freedom she felt as a teen playing Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest to experimenting with drugs as an adult. Schneider writes candidly about navigating her gender and sexuality and her relief that "most people simply believe me when I say who I am!" Jeopardy fans, who undoubtedly followed Schneider's 40-show winning streak, might be disappointed by the lack of behind-the-scenes details, but Schneider shares her wider experiences with fame, including being sent free swag and people recognizing her in the grocery store. Readers will appreciate this generous and approachable collection of essays celebrating intellectual curiosity and the joy that comes with being your true self.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.