The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything

by Nigel Holmes, Richard Sandomir, Mark Reiter

Overview

Every March, the NCAA men's basketball tournament blankets newspapers and the Internet, and attracts millions of television viewers over the course of three weeks. Will a perennial favorite like Duke win? Or will it be a dark horse like Gonzaga? The phenomenon known as March Madness galvanizes a nation of viewers as few other sports events can. The reason? Bracketology. America eagerly watches as 64 teams become 32, then 16, then 8, then 4, then 2, and finally #1.
Now it's time to use the same rigorous method for everything that really matters in culture, people, history, the arts and more. In The Enlightened Bracketologist the editors have organized the world's most haunting and maddeningly subjective questions into a scheme of binary pairings that finally reveal what is truly the best in its class: La Tache or Chateau Latour? (1) Barry Bonds or Terrell Owens? (2) "Vissi d'arte" or "Dove Sono"? (3) OJ verdict or JFK assassination? (4) "Top of the world, Ma" or "Nobody's perfect"? (5) Two by two, The Enlightened Bracketologist pits our cultural mainstays against each other; only the finest survive. Every double-page spread of this book will contain a series of brackets compiled by experts and celebrities, with text call-outs that highlight the reason why one competitor moves on and another doesn't. Already committed are Elvis Costello on popular songs; David Bouley on cookbooks; Leon Fleisher on piano music; Reneé Fleming on opera arias; Henry Beard on French phrases; Joseph Ward on wine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781596919471
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	12/09/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	17 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Richard Sandomir is the award-winning sports television columnist for the New York Times. His previous books include Bald Like Me: The Hair-Raising Adventures of Baldman and, with Rick Wolff, Life for Real Dummies and Don't Worry, Stop Sweating...Use Deodorant.

Mark Reiter is a literary agent and writer who has collaborated on books with Twyla Tharp, Phil Dusenberry, Mark McCormack, and Marshall Goldsmith.
Richard Sandomir is the award-winning sports television columnist for the New York Times. His previous books include Bald Like Me: The Hair-Raising Adventures of Baldman and, with Rick Wolff, Life for Real Dummies and Don't Worry, Stop Sweating...Use Deodorant.  
Mark Reiter is a literary agent and writer who has collaborated on books with Twyla Tharp, Phil Dusenberry, Mark McCormack, and Marshall Goldsmith.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The brackets (alphabetical order, with arbitrary exceptions)
March Madness Moments   Gary Parrish
Where Were You When Moments   Mark Reiter
Animation Characters   Roz Chast
Ad Slogans   Phil Dusenberry
Alt-Country Songs   Peter Blackstock   Grant Alden
American Beers   Maureen Ogle
American Plays   Peter Marks
Bald Guys   Richard Sandomir
Baseball Myths   Richard Lally
Black-and-White TV Programs   Robert Thompson
James Bond Gadgets   Lois H. Gresh   Robert Weinberg
Dodosaurs   Rick Meyerowitz
Bob Dylan Cover Songs   Dalton Delan
Candy Bars   Scott Mowbray
Mondegreens, or Misheard Lyrics   Mikki Halpin
Celebrity Sports Couples   Selena Roberts
CEOs   John A. Byrne
Spokescharacters Who Will Shill for Food   Stuart Elliott
Cheese   Max McCalman   David Gibbons
Chick Flicks   Carrie Gerlach Cecil
Crosswordese   Tyler Hinman
Classic Comedies   Robert Wuhl
Conspiracy Theories   Kurt Andersen
Corporate Jargon   Stanley Bing
Dogs for the Ages   Claudia Kawczynska   Cameron Woo
Marital Arguments   Phil Lee   Diane Rudolph
Elmore Leonard Novels   Mark Reiter
Elvis Costello Songs   Mark Reiter
Emoticons   J.D. Biersdorfer
Endangered Species   Christopher Jenkins
Cooking Tools   Bill Yosses
Economic Indicators   Tim Harford
Film Deaths   Matthew Shepatin
Frank Sinatra Songs   David McClintick
Freshwater and Saltwater Flies   Peter Kaminsky
Fruit   Neil Amdur
Game Show Catchphrases   Ken Jennings
Sportscaster Signature Calls   Richard Sandomir
Memorable Speech Lines   Jeff Shesol
Golf Swing Thoughts   Christopher Smith
Horses for the Ages   William Nack
Jock Films   Richard Sandomir
Guilty Pleasures   Simon Trewin   Tom Bromley   Michael Moran
Guitar Solos   Allen St. John
Hairstyles   Gersh Kuntzman
Hip   John Leland
Indie Rock Albums   John Sellers
Innovations in Sports   James Boice
Inventions   Adi Ignatius
Investment Strategies   Clark Winter
Most Likely to Survive the 21st Century   Michael Rogers
Jew/Not a Jew   Michael Solomon
Kings and Queens of England   Clive Aslet
Latin Grammar   Henry Beard
Long Songs   Jens Carstensen
Longevity Strategies   David J. Leffell
Magical Sports Numbers   Richard Sandomir
Male Vices   John Albert
Meaningless Sports Statistics   Allen St.John
Most Jersey   Tris McCall
Mythological Figures   James C. Hogan
Nascar Phrases   Jeff MacGregor
Newspaper Headlines   John Walter
Opera Arias (Male)   Neil Shicoff
Paul Simon Songs   Luke Dempsey
Perfect Book Titles   Robert S. Miller
Pickup Lines   Em   Lo
Punctuation   Jesse Sheidlower
Short Books   Sara Nelson
Plastic Surgery Disasters   Michael Musto
Political Blunders of the Last 50 Years   Paul Slansky
Political Hot Buttons   Mo Rocca
Presidential Speeches   Curt Smith
Priceless Things   Leila Dunbar
Rednecks   Allison Glock
Red Wines   Joseph Ward
Rivalries   Will Blythe
Samuel L. Jackson Films   Rick Staehling
Scrabble Words   Stefan Fatsis
Sex and the City Wisdom   Sherri Rifkin
Shakespeare in Film   Tom Akstens
Sidekicks   Steven Reddicliffe
Simple Things   Henry Petroski
Sins Against the Language   Ben Yagoda
Sport/Not a Sport   Bill Scheft
Sports Books   Dick Friedman
Sucker Bets   Richard Hoffer
Talk Show Hosts   Bill Carter
Tell Me Again Why They're Famous   Larry Amoros
Troll Models   Robert Lipsyte
TV One-Liners   Michael Davis
Typefaces   Nigel Holmes
Underdogs   Mark St. Amant
Video Games    Seth Schiesel
Wedding Gifts   Marcy Blum
White Wines   Joseph Ward
Women's Magazine Sex Cliches   Stephanie Dolgoff
Women's Undies   Spanky Van Aken
Your Boss's Annoying Habits   Marshall Goldsmith
Yiddish Phrases   Michael Wex
Shakespeare Insults   Lawrence Goodman