Andrew Rostan

As I said on another review this year, it's always tricky when someone relatively young does a memoir (and in both of the ones I've read so far, it's because of sudden television fame), though Form of a Question is less of a memoir and more of a pondering on coming of age, and whether to retreat into the comforting solitude of books and knowledge or risk social consequences while going out in the world and getting to know people.

A little bit light on Jeopardy! lore as it works more as a frame story to Andrew thinking back to his younger years and dating history in college, I get "indie film where a guy thinks about the girls who got away" vibes. It's ok, just know what you're getting into here.… (altro)

A frustrating autobiography that teases with lots of Jeopardy trivia goodness but spills surprisingly little behind-the-scenes tea. We're left with a vague coming of age memoir that is chronologically confusing due to its broken timeline and use of memory phantoms. There are hints the author may be neurodiverse, but it is not really addressed in any fulfilling manner. There is some time spent on muddled romantic relationships and friendships, with the main focus on the author's relationship with his grandfather -- but even that is not really fleshed out much beyond gramps being supportive and optimistic about Rostan's future.

Alex Trebek shows up, but the artist fails to capture his likeness or that of the dozen or so historical and fictional figures dropped into the background of some of the hallucinogenic scenes.

Still, hardcore Jeopardy fans will probably get a little kick out of it, and I'm sure it's of interest to Rostan's family and friends. I'm not sure who else might get anything out of it.

p.s., The woman who defeats Rostan is actually Sara Westrick Schomig, not "Megan." It's a fact easily found on Jeopardy fan sites, so I'm not sure what was the point in changing her name other than the author might have dramatically fudged his conversations with her.… (altro)

Eh, I found the story to be jumbled and a little hard to follow. Some stories I don't think are suited to the graphic format and this is one of them. It is very much about relationships and how they change over time and I don't think the art really captured that sense of time moving, changing. I also didn't feel the characters were fleshed out enough. It was hard to see why these characters would be so closely tied together with how little information we got about each of them together or separately.… (altro)