The Trivia Lover's Guide to the World: Geography for the Lost and Found

by Gary Fuller

Gary Fuller’s entertaining and engaging guide enhances geographic know-how with good, old-fashioned fun, using trivia to open up new worlds of knowledge for all readers. Often dismissed as unimportant, trivia here highlights issues that are far from trivial, pondering, for example, what peaceful country requires citizens to keep guns in their homes? what continent contains at least 75 percent of the world’s fresh water? and why aren't New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia the capitals of their respective states? An inveterate traveler and geographer extraordinaire, Fuller provides extensive background, clear illustrations, and thorough explanations for each intriguing question, carefully grounding the text in practical geographic concepts. Both enjoyable and enlightening, this book challenges today’s global generation to truly get to know their world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Geography, Reference, Trivia, Travel, History, Ebooks

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2012

About the author

Gary Fuller received a BS from The State University of New York where he was elected senior class president and captained an undefeated College Bowl team. He received a Ford Foundation Fellowship and Population Council grant for his dissertation research on the diffusion of family planning in Chile. He attended the Centro Intercultural de Documentacion in Mexico and conducted field research for his dissertation in Santiago and southern Chile. His Ph.D. in geography from Penn State was awarded in 1972.

He was Assistant Professor, Professor, and Emeritus Professor of Geography and Population Studies at the University of Hawaii from 1970 to the present. He also served as Graduate Chair of Geography and Director of the Population Studies Program at the University of Hawaii. Additionally, he was Research Associate at the East-West Center in Honolulu and visiting Professor of Geography at Ohio State. He received a Teacher-of-the-Year Award from the National Conference for Geographic Education and received an alumni award for his research and publication from SUNY in 1994. He was also a winning contestant on the TV program, "Jeopardy".

Gary has conducted field research in Mexico and Chile and has devoted much of his career to research on the causes of political instability and terrorism. He has studied the situation in China, India, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Latin America. His lectures on World Affairs have drawn capacity audiences on cruise ships since he began as a faculty member with the Georgetown University World Affairs Program in 1993. He has lectured on board more than 50 cruises.

He recent book, "The Trivia Lover's Guide to the world: Geography for the Lost and Found", won a silver award from the American Library Association in the non-fiction category. His second book, "The Trivia Lover's Guide to Even More of the World" will be released in July, 2015. His third book, tentatively entitled "Geography of Food" and co-authored with Chef Teresa Reddekopp will be released in 2016.

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of interesting global tidbits; proud of the amount that I already knew, but shocked at how much I didn't. Chapters are arranged categorically — Really Big Cities, Agriculture and Tourism, Places Aren't Always Where You Think They Should Be, Land and Sea Battles, etc. — and each begins with anywhere from 2-6 questions such as these (from the chapter on Spatial Diffusion), answers to which are then worked into the following text:

- What disease killed more than 100 million worldwide in 1918-19?
- Where was the first traffic light used?
- In the modern era, what was the first US state to introduce a state lottery (1964)?
- What cartoon character was banned in Finland?

(Interestingly, in discussing the answer to the first question — the Spanish Flu, obviously — the author notes: "Some authorities have expressed the opinion that the disease was so severe and widespread that it had the potential to destroy human civilization. While this view could be considered alarmist, it helps to explain why public health officials have been so concerned about swine flu, bird flu, and H1N1 in recent decades;" a statement even more frighteningly relevant in the world of COVID than when this was published in 2012).

The author is a former professor of geography and so writes with both confidence and a light touch. But that said, the book lacks the overall humor and charm of similar but considerably better books such as Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks and Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?: The Place Names that History Left Behind. As such, it took me a good 4-5 months to finish, as early on I downgraded it from a "morning sunroom read" to a "leave-it-in-the-bathroom read," (which quite frankly is the best place to read ANY trivia book).

"Learned" a bunch of fascinating new facts, even if I've probably already forgotten most of them, (a sadly not-uncommon result at my age). 3.5 stars, rounded up for the cool cover design.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What 2 South American countries don't border Brazil? What is the only continent without an active volcano? What is the 2nd largest city in Mexico? This book is full of questions like these, and not only provides answers, but provides extensive background behind WHY these answers came to be. Very entertaining, and has plenty of conversation pieces.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of interesting trivia. I found it outdated since it was published in 2012.

[Steve Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A freebie from B&N. Interesting and fun with the quizzes if you have an interest in geography. Although some of the questions can probably only be answered by someone like the author with a PhD in geography, it was a good way to learn. Never knew there were so many specialties of study under geography.

[Old_airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The author's humor and mine are similar. Although the title may suggest that it is trivia, I found the purpose of the book is to introduce the reader to many uses of geography and mapping.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geography made fun! An enjoyable and entertaining look at how geography is not just the location or place markers that plague the directionally challenged. I actually enjoyed almost 95% of this ebook, and found the authors style engaging. Great freebie!

[Brent Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book. If you love trivia and would like to brush up on your geography, by all means, pick this book up. Would definitely recommend.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a long while to finish this book, but only because I am a university student and lacked the time to read for pleasure. The best word I can use to describe this book is FUN; Dr. Fuller’s wonderful sense of humor and sharp wit come to the fore as he presents geographic facts (some of which are quite esoteric, I might add) for the trivia lovers among us. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book, even if you are not a human atlas. At the very least, you will definitely walk away with a new nugget of knowledge to show off at parties!

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gary Fuller was a winning contestant on Jeopardy. He uses topics like climate and weather, maps, islands, rivers, parks, sports, bridges, etc. Fuller uses a game show format as a setup for the trivia questions. He provides extensive background and illustrations. I found some interesting facts in the chapter on bridges. I'm sure that any reader will discover some new facts.

[Wes Hazard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent for what it is, which is essentially a geography fact book/trivia study guide that makes memorizing these Jeopardy! tidbits easy & fun by placing them within brief narratives. If you really want or need to get a handle on some world geography ephemera this is a million times more enjoyable than just looking at an atlas.

[Jennifer Mafnas · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed the easy and enjoyable read about various geographical notions- I would look forward to an updated edition as things have changed (ie covid) as well as country and political changes the author discusses. I also love his hawai’i ties and imagine that an author not familiar with hawai’i may miss some of these little hawai’i tidbits. Great for trivia lovers for sure!!!

[Rhonda Hankins]

I had fun going through this book. Lots of fun facts sprinkled throughout.

However, Snopes disagrees with the answer to 44d re Finland banning Donald Duck on the grounds that he didn't wear pants. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/fow...

What trivia book would not be complete without a little challenge here and there?

[Jennifer Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My failure to finish isn’t an indicator that this isn’t a good book. I was just previewing it for my kids’ geography curriculum, and I ran out of time and had to return it. I learned a lot of really interesting facts and found this book to be entertaining and engaging. I think it’s a good choice for our homeschool reading.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, the style of this book won’t appeal to everyone—but it worked for me! The chapters are short and filled with contextual stories for geographic features and concepts. I feel like I have a better understanding of geography as a whole, and I’m armed with new fun facts about the world.

[Samwell Raleigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Great read. Thoroughly researched and an impressively wide scope. Definitely up my alley.

[Joseph Matuch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun and surprising facts contained within. Looking forward to reading the follow-up.

[Jack Cheng]

Llook out llamas, I've llearned a llot about my weakest subject!

[Dyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for geography and even general trivia nuts (like myself)!

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting facts written in an engaging way. Read this with my kids for their high school geography course.

[Jerry Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a traveler and lover of trivia this book doesn’t disappoint. Geography is much more than places but the spread of disease, migration, development and more. Always changing.

[Traci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read especially if you like trivia. The format of the book is a nice one for picking up and reading for a bit and then setting aside. Each chapter talks about geography centered around trivia questions. Fuller discusses geography as more than just location but rather the expanded meaning of the field including political, human, topographical etc. It is an interesting book if you like to expand your knowledge about the world around us

[JG (Introverted Reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Professor Gary Fuller sets out to fill in the gaps in your geography knowledge.

I would guess that I know a little more geography than the average American but I'll be the first to admit that I'm still woefully lacking. I downloaded this book on a nook Free Friday (I believe), thinking that I might learn a thing or two.

I sure did! I wish more of it had stuck with me, but I now know that camels originated in North America, the first country you come to if you go directly south of Detroit is Canada (I'm ashamed that I didn't know that one) and if you go directly south of Chicago, you'll run into the Pacific ocean, not South America (again, I'm ashamed that I didn't know that). There were lots more facts packed into this little book, all presented in a fun, entertaining way. I actually had a hard time putting the book down!

The format of the book worked really well for me. The chapters were short and began with a series of questions. That's the one thing I didn't like. By the time I got to the answer, I'd forgotten what the question was and there often wasn't much of a contextual clue. I would have had an easier time with a physical copy, just marking the question page, but I wasn't willing to go clicking back through the pages on my nook.

Trivia lovers should really enjoy this book, and I highly recommend it!

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent prep if you have an intense desire to go on Jeopardy as a contestant. I have always had an interest in geography and there were many times in college that my reasonable grade point average came from superior grades in Band, ROTC, Badminton and geography. With that said I didn't think that one book covering the subject would satisfy that appetite, however, I think I can remove the geography shelf from near term use on this website. The geography questions asked were intelligent, accurate and did add a new dimension to my knowledge and I was pleased that I was able to answer a reasonable number of the inquiries. About halfway through, however, my interest began to wane when I had to discern the two sources that the Lanprey Eel had taken to sneak their little slimy bodies into the Great Lakes and then only to find that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron should be considered one lake. Well written, glad I read it, but now on to something light and fluffy.

[Chris Branch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick light read filled with interesting geographical trivia. Although I think I'm fairly knowledgeable about geography there were plenty of facts that I didn't know - or even if I knew, I wouldn't have thought of them in response to the questions. Now whether I'll remember them later is another story.

My one negative comment is that I read this on the iPhone Nook app, which apparently does not allow zooming in on images. So while this book had numerous maps, I can't tell you anything about them since they were too small to see. Anyway this was a "Free Friday" book so I can't complain too much!

[Dee Renee Chesnut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ebook was free when I downloaded it from Barnes and Noble to my Nook library.
Each chapter begins with a series of questions, and then answers are given with enough context to explain why a particular type of geography or mapping is important.
I found it best read a chapter a day or other small doses to let the information sink to long term memory before another episode of Jeopardy.

[Kevin Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. I am an avowed trivia buff and admittedly weak in Geography. This book contained a ton of trivial facts that I feel enriched being more aware of. One misstated fact (not related to the content) was a reference to the 1980 Olympics "Miracle on Ice". The book stated that the US beat the Soviet Union team for the Gold Medal. In fact, the US beat the Soviets in a qualifying game which led to their advancing to beat Finland for the Gold Medal. Trivial yes, but pertinent.

[Megan Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nooks Free Fridays Book

I found this book to be a lot of fun. I found the trivia fascinating and but unfortunately it's a little too much to remember all of it. I can retain a few facts that I found truly astounding, but I wish I could remember more. I think this would be a good one to reread because of this. And because each chapter could be read on it's own, you can easily reread and skip the ones you remember or found unexciting.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a very entertaining read and I learned a lot that I can (hopefully) remember in the future. Fuller asks a variety of questions ranging from true/false to trick questions. It was fun to guess the answers I didn't know 100% and equally (if not more) fun to automatically know or correctly guess the answers. This is a great book for those wanting to learn more about elements of geography and for trivia lovers wanting to test their knowledge!

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Late in putting in my review for this one I picked this book up through the Nook, on one of their free Fridays, which are typically a hit or miss (which is why I don't go for them every time). But for this book, I think I would have paid full price, and will read again, just for the fun. The Trivia Lover's Guide to the World is a great page turner, full of information I didn't have, though I really should have. A good book for correcting your misconceptions about the shape of the world.

[Capoppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was another Free Friday for my nook. It was very interesting and a joy to read. The question and answer format was good. I love Trivia and I get out my Atlas or map when reading a book about area I'm not familiar with so this was really good for me. I liked this guy's style of writing wish I could remember him as a contestant on Jeapordy..they say he was good ..