Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks

I cannot believe that I have found Ken Jennings making a factual error. And he did so immediately on page 3 of this wonderful read. "Look how Ardmore, Alabama, is only a hundred feet away from its neighbor Ardmore, Louisiana..."Really?!!!I am no Ken Jennings, not even close, although I watched every one of his appearances of "Jeopardy!" and recall the day he wasn't able to recall H&R Block. Love this guy.But, Ken, even I know that there is a state between Alabama and Louisiana--Mississippi. So I did a Google search. Seems there is no Ardmore, Louisiana, but the Ardmore in Alabama is in the north central. And I thought, maybe Tennessee. And sure enough, there it is, Ken, in Tennessee.So that set me on a search for more factual errors in the book. But alas, alack, I just got so sucked up in the book I forgot what my task was.This is just a delightful read. And, no, you do not need to be a geography nerd. Or a map nerd. I'm not although I do find myself Googling maps a lot. And when Ken Jennings writes about slutty place names as well as unusual geographic circumstances, I am brought back to my early life when I grew up in Derby Line, Vermont, the "line" there to indicate that the Quebec border is there. The local library, the Haskell Free, is half in the U.S. and half in Cananda. And above is the opera house where the state is in Quebec and the audience--or most of it--sits in the United States. Back then we thought nothing of this, but today it is not the case. Ken Jennings missed telling this tale, so I thought I would.It is filled with great stories including one I particularly like which occurred decades ago with a University of Miami geography professor--back when universities actually had geography professors--who gave a little quiz to find out what his students knew about where places were located in the world. Seems London wasn't happy about how few students knew where the city was located. And that turned into a huge media event that cost the professor his job. But the story doesn't end there. Ken keeps bringing it back to us.This is not a book that is filled with bunches of unrelated facts. Instead it is a journey into all types of things including Ken's views about the quality of our educational system in this country. We are better than Mexico! And that isn't exactly the standard No Child Left Behind was trying to achieve! I'm a teacher and I agree with Ken. Disaster!Did you know that pirates never made treasure maps? Did you know there is no place for Santa Claus to actually live in the North Pole? These are pieces of information we need to keep secret from young children, of course.Did you know that the Library of Congress has zillions of maps from all over the world? And right there in the words of Columbus contemporary, Vespucci, in letters sent back to Europe is just how hot and slutty Caribbean women were.I have read the other Ken Jennings books. And liked them.The chapter dealing with National Geographics' national geography bee is worth the price of the book alone. It is just so wonderful as he follows these brainy kids. It is also interesting to me that Alex Trebek is the person who asks the questions in the finals held in Washington, D. C. I recall thinking that Alex Trebek had become just a little annoyed with Ken Jennings during that long "Jeopardy!" stretch that I and millions of others so much enjoyed. And the way Mr. Jennings writes about Alex Trebek, I sense that the feelings are mutual, respectful but...But this is the best yet. Don't hesitate to order it. I see one reader wasn't that enchanted. I doubt there will be many others who feel that way.

I assumed that this book would be a history of map making. However it is! Much more. The author includes many subjects from groups that try to visit 100 or more countries to geocaching. I was particularly surprised to learn about the National Geography contest.

good

Ken Jennings joins the ranks of authors like Mark Kurlansky (Salt, Cod) and Bill Bryson (At Home, Mother Tongue) who take a subject that appears commonplace or mundane on its surface and infuse it with interest by teasing tidbits, personalities and historic anecdotes from the story to create books that can be wonderfully entertaining as well as educational.Jennings falls a bit short of the other above authors in generating a consistent level of interest in his story. Not that I didn't enjoy parts of it. The book, however never really gelled for me. Jennings's injections of his own musings as well as frequent use of parenthetical witty observations means this book never flows smoothly like a Bryson tome (Bryson does the same but executes very well).The author explores maps and uses his life-long fascination with them (hence, "Maphead") as the centerpiece for his work. This book is rather more focused on people who share his enthusiasm than maps themselves, though of course specific cartographic renderings and the history related to some do make appearances. His chapter on map collectors takes the reader from a London convention to San Francisco and the homes of some private individuals who have assembled fantastically large collections. His time with Alex Trebek (who he met when Jennings became a Jeopardy game show champ) at the National Geographic Bee offers some interesting portraits of young people - try seventh grade - whose map fascination has allowed them to assemble astounding amounts of geographic information about our world. No less interesting is seeing these youngsters -- almost all of whom have been the smartest people they have ever encountered -- react to the pressure of competing with fifty other people who are just as talented as they.His final two chapters were the best of the book, and worth the effort to get there. He does an interesting job of discussing the rise of geocaching and exploring the world of geochachers (which really makes one appreciate what a lucky people we are that some of us have so much time to find so many geocaches). I particulalry liked his discussion on the development and issues surround Google Earth and on-line mapping.Less interesting for me was a chapter devoted to people who make fantasy maps and spend lifetimes creating back stories, languages and in some cases laws for these places whose latitudes and longitudes exist only in their minds. My overall impression of the book, which is divided into a dozen or so chapters, was that some sections worked well and told interesting stories while others just never had a subject or focus that lent itself to a gripping account.Overall this book is an easy read and does provide some interesting information on map history amid a lot of exploration of the people who populate "Mapworld." While I would have personally liked more on the history of maps, an immersion into famous maps and perhaps the influence of a map or maps on significant events, some may like this focus on people whose primary passions lay in two-dimensional representations of the world we inhabit.

A classic by an engaging author

Of course it’s “interesting and entertaining” for a very specific subset of readers, but if you are part of that subset it’s an entertaining book, full of interesting anecdotes and remarks, that suggests further exploration of the matter. The poetic ending is a very nice touch, too.

Picked this up from a Bill Bryson book I read and as I had a big reading list it was some time before I got to it. I really enjoyed it, though you would have to have some interest in the subject to get a lot of pleasure from it. The way the book develops is great and makes sense and if there is a subject that is not of interest to you it would be easy to miss out that chapter and go back to it later. A good buy.

Great little book if you are interested in maps - wide ranging and informative.

Well, I am. A map geek. Perhaps not on the level of Jennings but geeky enough. And the book is kind of a fever dream of maphead geekiness. But it's also funny, full of great insight into the meaning not just of maps but of geography, and also, perhaps, ultimately, about our sense of place. Meaning I've just told you a deep part of Jennings's own thesis: maps are incredibly human. And makes us even more human. Highly recommended.