Customer Reviews

The Envelope, Please: The Ultimate Academy Awards Trivia Book

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I picked up this book because I thought it would be fun to read the bits of trivia. However, I wasn't very far along into it when I began finding factual errors -- errors in major categories that easily could have been corrected had the author or editor bothered to check. In Chapter One, for instance, the author claims that Hugh Griffith won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1963 for "Tom Jones"; in reality, Melvin Douglas won for "Hud." (Griffith won in 1959, for "Ben-Hur.") Later, in a question regarding consecutive wins, the book omits Tom Hanks for his performances in "Philadelphia" (1993) and "Forrest Gump" (1994), although the book was published in 1999. Mistakes such as these can be found throughout the book.

This book has lots of fun information, but no useful way to look it up (like an index). So, if you want to know how many times a particular actor was nominated for a supporting role Oscar, you're out of luck.

I found the Mr. Jones' book well written, efficiently organized, and full of tasty tidbits of information about the Oscars and the movies they honor. It's a wonderful source of information for those late night Trivial Pursuit games and discussions about the best and worst Hollywood has to offer; a must-have for the Oscar afficionado!

I bought this book on impulse and am now evangelizing it to almost everyone I know. Jones' style is funny, warm, and personal, and the sheer depth of the information is just amazing (how does he REMEMBER all this stuff?). One of the best parts of the book is that the Oscars are shown to be just as falliable and prone to politicking as anything else in life, but that doesn't make Jones cynical - if anything, he seems to relish the endless opportunities for guessing and second-guessing what the Academy is going to do in any given year. If you like the Oscars, this is a great companion guide (and cheap, too!).

Goes beyond names and dates,providing insightful analysis and plenty of humor. Can't beat it.

Needs a factcheker and a good shot of adrenaline before it can hold a candle to "Inside Oscar," "Oscar A to Z" or "The Encyclopedia of Movie Awards," all of which include trivia tidbits to greater (and more accurate) effect than Jones' poorly written mishmash.

Skip it.

And the winner is "The Envelope, Please: The Ultimate Academy Awards Trivia Book." From its opening remarks to the final answer, this book is smart, funny, and information-packed. Arnold Wayne Jones combines an encyclopedic knowledge of Oscar lore with fresh insights and irreverent volleys. The wonderfully clever organization goes far beyond who-won-what-when. Highly recommended for lovers of all things Oscar, as well as for movie and showbiz aficionados and anyone who wants to impress friends with little-known but fascinating factoids.

This is by far the worst book I've ever read. It starts out bad with an anecdote about the author's love of Star Wars and Star Trek and all things nerdy and gets far worse from there. The only way you can possible enjoy this book is with a cold Miller beer in one hand.