Exactly. I read it in high school 40 years ago and all I remember is who wrote it.
Even without that it seems like anyone who is on Jeopardy would know that one.

Wonder if it’s still required reading.

I graduated high school in the 1995 and I never read it. Never even heard of it.

I was in high school in the late 80's early 90's and never read it. I maybe heard the title of the book somewhere before, but have no knowledge of it. I think the only title that is could safely be said to be required reading in school would be Romeo and Juliet. Any other title may vary from school district to school district. The Hobbit was required reading for us in junior high/ middle school. I don't think it was required reading in too many school districts though.

I never read it and don't know who wrote it either.

HS class of early 90s and never heard of it.

I would've tested the limits of the judges on FJ, cuz I knew it was "the guy who painted the portrait of GW" but I couldn't for the life of me remember his name.

1996 high school. Never heard of it.

I know who Pearl Buck is because we talked about her missionary work when I was in church as a kid. I never read The Good Earth, though, and wouldn't have known she was the author.

I got yesterday's final Jeopardy correct. Funny thing though is i was thinking of Country Roads and not Rocky Mountain High when I solved the clue.

I read The Good Earth and knew it was by Pearl S. Buck, but then again, Chinese culture, history, and stories are important to me so it was a book I sought out, as well as the film, which while filled with yellowface is also a cultural milestone for depicting Chinese stories / Asian culture in cinema.

I remembered this for the FJ answer.

I was trying to think of what the drug references were in Country Roads but I only could recall the first verse. So, two of John Denver's songs are official state songs.

The clue said that the songwriter had to explain that the reference wasn't about illegal drugs.

"... misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye" is unmistakably about illegal alcohol.

"... rocky mountain high, Colorado" for the win.

No, Emma Boettcher was a solid player that won a total of 3 games. They even invited her to the next Tournament of Champions, where she made it into the finals which she lost to Holzhauer.

why does Johnny Gilbert announce Ken Jennings as "and now hosting Jeopardy..." while Mayim Bialik gets "and now your host of Jeopardy..."?

Bialik was named as a new Jeopardy! host along with Mike Richards. I think she was supposed to host special event shows or something. Then when the backlash came on Richards, he stepped down and Bialik started hosting the show regularly. Jennings sometimes hosts instead of Bialik, but Jennings hasn't been officially made a permanent host, as I understand it.

He's not an "official" host; at least not just yet. He's sharing the hosting duties with Bjalik for this season, but I guess they are still considering it temporary until they make a final decision. They probably think it would sound silly to still announce him as a "guest host" but don't want to go so far as to say he is "the host" of Jeopardy. At this point, it doesn't seem like the producers are actively seeking out anyone else to fil the spot as it doesn't appear they plan to test out any other guest hosts during this season. I doubt they would just throw anyone in there as an official host without testing them first, so most likely they are testing Jennings out for a longer period and will make him official at the beginning of next season.

Bjalik hosted today's episode.

Nice.

2/1 came down to final and was very competitive. I liked it

Yeah, very entertaining outing. The girl in the middle was lagging way behind the entire episode, got lucky by getting an easy Daily Double that she had bet it all on, then nearly ran the last category to jump into the lead at FJ, only to not know the answer (neither did I, by the way).

And I really do like Bialik as a host. A little more personality. Ken Jennings is kind of dry. He's the Sheldon to her Amy.

Just watched yesterday's episode. Mayim gave one guy the points for one clue even though he didn't phrase it in the form of a question. She just reminded him afterwards that he has to phrase it as a question. It didn't change the outcome of the game, but I wonder what would have happened if it did. The one contestant could have had an unfair advantage by getting extra points instead of losing the points like he should have done.

I thought that is something the judges would decide and get in the earpiece of the host to let them know what to do in those situations.
Plus the judges have changed those decisions later in the game.

Isn't the rule that they would be reminded in Single Jeopardy, but be ruled incorrect in Double and Final Jeopardy?

Oh jeez, man, don't call it "Single Jeopardy", the hardcore fans will get their panties in a bunch.

Mayim Bialik made a slight change to 'Jeopardy!' and fans can't handle it (yahoo.com)