Book review: "The Answer is ..." by Alex Trebek

It's not really surprising that I would like Alex Trebek's autobiography. After all, I have long been a big fan of "Jeopardy," the quiz show that Trebek hosted for 37 years before his death from cancer in November 2020.

What surprised me about "The Answer is ..." was that not only did I like the book, it made me like Alex Trebek even more than I had.

In the book, Trebek acknowledges that he has long been viewed as "aloof." Of course, it's hard to really know someone through the prism of television, but while I respected him as host of "Jeopardy," I shared the sense that Trebek saw himself a bit above the rest of us.

But in "The Answer Is ...," Alex Trebek reveals a more human side. He describes himself as both "reserved" and "silly." He worries that he is sometimes oversensitive to criticism. He gets frustrated, like we all do, when he calls his bank and can't reach a person.

Trebek emphasizes that he has always tried to keep the focus of "Jeopardy" on the players rather than himself (he insisted on being called the "host," not  the "star," of the show).  

"You could replace me as the host of the show with anybody and it would likely be just as popular," he writes.

It turns out that Trebek is in many ways a modest and down-to-earth guy who loves simple things like crossword puzzles and home fix-it projects. This is a man — a millionaire many times over — who opted to fix his own dryer rather than pay a repairman $200. Why? He loves a challenge.

"That's very important in life. It's one thing to do the same thing well over and over again," he notes. "But try to force yourself into attacking a new project that you've never done before, and say, 'Okay, how do I solve this?'" 

The format of "The Answer Is ..." is unconventional for an autobiography. Rather than a wall-to-wall life story, Trebek offers short vignettes from his life and small selections of thoughts. Most of the chapters are just two or three pages long; he tells a quick story or offers few thoughts, and then ends it. For the most part, it works. I might try it myself if I ever write an autobiography. 

 Among the various things, we learn:

• His actual name is George Alexander Trebek
• He spent less than two days in military college before quitting
• A third grade prize he received for public speaking propelled him to seek a career in broadcasting
• At an event he was hosting in 1967, he met Queen Elizabeth II and they chatted for a surprisingly long five minutes. The next day, when he saw her again, she didn't remember him. 
• Worried that he was too clean-cut, he started joking about having a drinking problem (in fact, he preferred 1% milk)
• He had a habit of arriving 10 minutes early for everything. 

There are a few gaps. For example, I would have liked to hear about the trips he made as part of the show — to the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, and the Dead Sea, among others — but he doesn't talk about them.

Also, the book includes three photos of him in costumes from the New York Metropolitan Opera. This deserves at least a short explanation, but it's not there.

What is there are honest thoughts about the value of family, and hard looks at the debilitating effects of pancreatic cancer. 

"One taping day early in my treatment, my stomach cramps got so bad that I was on the floor writhing in pain," he writes. He still did the show that day.

"Aloof" or not, Alex Trebek had a classy final act. He wrote the book knowing that it would likely be his last opportunity to describe his outlook on life.

“My life has been a quest for knowledge and understanding, and I’m nowhere near having achieved that," he reflects. "And it doesn’t bother me in the least. I will die without having come up with the answer to many things in life."

He adds: "I'd like to be remembered first of all as a good and loving husband and father, and also as a decent man who did his best to help people perform at their best. Because that was my job."