Final Jeopardy: 20th Century Literature (12-13-11)
The Final Jeopardy question (12/13/2011) in the category “20th Century Literature” was:
A 50th anniversary edition of this fictionalized biography featured the painting seen here on its cover.
Another day, another one-day champion trying for a second win. Chuck Rezac faced off against these two new players today: Boomie Aglietti from California and Gina Bernal from Massachusetts.
Gina and Boomie both had at least $2 grand by the first break, and Chuck had $200 but the Daily Double was still up there. Chuck found it in “Long Live the Company,” By now he had $1,600 and was encouraged by Alex to risk it all in order to tie for the lead with Gina. Chuck thought that was a good idea, no doubt because he had done well in the category so far. And he was RIGHT.
This company started in 1833 selling mollusk exoskeletons; it switched to selling oil for lamps in the 1890s. show
Chuck still ended up in third place with $4,000. Gina had $5,200 and Boomie was in the lead with $6,400.
Boomie got the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double in “Mars Needs Contestants.” He was way out in front now with $13,200 but only wanted to risk $1,600. It was a video Daily Double showing this picture. Right on, Boomie. You should’ve bet more!
“In 2003, the United States launched 2 Martian rovers: Opportunity and this, whose work is seen here.” show
Boomie also found the second Daily Double of the round in “Getting Defensive.” He now had $22,800. “If you made this a true Daily Double, you could wind up with $45,600,” Alex said. “Well, I may be smart, but I’m not stupid,” Boomie replied and bet $800. Practically a no-brainer but Boomie barely got the correct question out in time. Still should’ve bet more!
One form of justification for an act is having had these, proverbially the asphalt on the way to hell. show
Boomie ended the round with $25,600, totally impressing Alex Trebek. Gina was next with $8,400. Chuck did a lot of bad guessing in the second round and ended up last with $2,000.
Only one contestant had the correct Final Jeopardy answer:
WHAT IS “LUST FOR LIFE”
Author Irving Stone (1903-1989) was well known in the 20th century for his novels of historical figures. “Lust for Life” was published in 1934. It was largely based upon the correspondence between Vincent Van Gogh and his brother, Theo. The book was made into a 1954 film starring Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh and James Donald as Theo. Anthony Quinn won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Paul Gauguin.
Other Irving Stone biographical novels include “The Agony and the Ecstasy” on the life of Michelangelo; and “The President’s Lady” on the life of Andrew Jackson’s wife Rachel. These novels were both adapted for the big screen as well. Stone also wrote accounts of the lives of the Lincolns and the Adamses (focusing on their married life), Jack London, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin.
Chuck was going for “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” but it was incomplete and wrong anyway. That was a semi-autobiographical novel by James Joyce. Chuck bet $1,937, leaving him with $63.
Gina managed to write out the whole “Portrait of the Artist” answer and that cost her $8,400 leaving her with bupkis.
We figured Boomie would get this, being a writer in the entertainment field (He also has acting credits on IMDB). He added $8,799 to his score for a winning total of $34,399.
