cover image Agatha Christie: A Biography

Agatha Christie: A Biography

Janet Morgan. Harper Perennial, $7.95 (393pp) ISBN 978-0-06-097030-7

This quiz book (which conveniently places answers after questions) has more than 1000 entries such as, ""What was the mountain man's advised method of killing a charging grizzly bear?''Fascinating facts and lore appear in chapters on frontiersmen, badmen, wranglers, pioneers and Indian tribes, and many pages are devoted to the curiosities about Custer: ``Q: What was Custer's class standing at the time of his graduation from West Point? A: He was last in his class.'' The book concludes with a section on Hollywood Westerns: ``Q: What was the name of Tom Mix's horse? A: Tony.'' As indicated by the lengthy bibliography, Gragg has done extensive research, and the index makes it possible to use this as a reference work. Illustrated with more than 50 period photographs, the compilation is several notches above the average quiz book. (August)