Huffington Post Arts, Books and Culture Trivia

Arianna Huffington’s online news aggregator is a fertile resource for any trivia nerd, offering books, movies, sports, politics and National Entertainment Journalism Award–nominee James Franco. The first ABC (Arts, Books and Culture) trivia night took place last year and was hosted by comedienne Katie Halper, while this installment features the faux-brainy chops of Dan Wilbur, author of How Not to Read: Harnessing the Power of a Literature-Free Life. Wilbur promises to “berate several nerds about how literature and reading are a complete waste of time before asking them literary trivia, like which author died following complications after swallowing a piece of toothpick stuck in a martini olive?” (The answer is Sherwood Anderson.) There is no set number of people per team; a single-person entry will theoretically be accepted, although it would help that solo operator’s cause if they happened to be Ken Jennings. (Or Watson, the supercomputer that beat him on Jeopardy.) The HuffPo staff will come up with the questions, but Wilbur will be ready to take over if need be: “If things get really loopy, I’ll make someone play a fun game called ‘Fifty Shades of Grey or Children’s Book?’ ” Reservations recommended, e-mail rsvp@powerhousearena.com.