Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 409
Which Sir Walter Scott novel features a 12th century Saxon knight who is in love with Rowena?
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ivanhoe
Which humorist wrote a collection of essays called 'In Cyberspace' that is formatted like a computer manual?
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dave barry
In which Salman Rushdie novel do the characters Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha fall from an exploded jet at the beginning?
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satanic verses
Which Scotsman, who died in Samoa in 1894, left behind the unfinished book 'Weir of Hermiston'?
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robert louis stevenson
In which novel would you find the characters Jurgis Rudkus, Ona Rudkus, and Antanas Rudkus?
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jungle
What lengthy T.S. Eliot poem was featured in Fiona Shaw's N.Y. theatrical debut in 1996?
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waste land
Which novelist won a Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for the book 'Beloved'?
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toni morrison
Which author was writing a sequel to 'Every Night, Josephine!' at the time of her death in 1974?
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jacqueline susann
Who was mortally wounded while slaying a dragon, decades after he beheaded Grendel?
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beowulf
Who is the author whose book, 'The Power of Myth,' is based on conversations with Joseph Campbell on PBS?
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bill moyers
What is the title of Judith Rossner's book about the time when psychoanalysts go on vacation and patients have to manage on their own?
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august
Which animal title is associated with Giuseppe Tomasi, Prince of Lampedusa's only novel?
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leopard
What is the name of the husband of poet Elizabeth who wrote 'O' to be in England, now that April's there'?
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robert browning
Who wrote the novel in which blackmailer Arthur Geiger is murdered?
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raymond chandler
Which poet's work titled 'I Heard a Fly Buzz' may have been inspired by a chapter in 'The House of the Seven Gables'?
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emily dickinson
In the 1857 novel by Gustave Flaubert, what is the name of the title character better known as Emma Rouault?
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madame bovary
Which author features the young woman Miranda in several of her works, including 'Pale Horse, Pale Rider'?
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katherine anne porter
Who is the author of 'The Odessa File,' 'The Fourth Protocol,' and 'The Day of the Jackal'?
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frederick forsyth
Who is the head nurse in the novel 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'?
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nurse ratched
In which 1944 novel by Kathleen Winsor is Amber St. Clare the title character?
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forever amber
What did Nathaniel Hawthorne call his 1846 collection of tales 'Mosses from an Old'?
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manse
In which Shakespearean play does the magician Prospero have the power to create storms?
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tempest
What is the title of the 1994 book that discusses group differences in intelligence and refers to a shape on a graph?
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bell curve
Which author wrote the famous quote, “Gentlemen always seem to remember blondes”?
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anita loos
Which British poet, known for the poem 'Not Waving, But Drowning,' often explored themes of death in her works?
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stevie smith
Ernest Hemingway's 1932 book 'Death in the Afternoon' explores which sport?
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bullfighting
Who is the author of the North and South trilogy, which concludes with the novel 'Heaven and Hell'?
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john jakes
Who is the author of 'The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit'?
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sloan wilson
Which Russian playwright authored 'Motley Stories' and 'The Cherry Orchard'?
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anton chekhov
Who wrote the play 'Romanoff & Juliet' which is set in Concordia, the smallest country in Europe?
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peter ustinov
Who is the Irish author of the play in which Juno's weak-willed husband, the Paycock, appears?
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seán o'casey
What is the title of the Kafka story where a man transforms into a gigantic insect, originally published as 'Die Verwandlung'?
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metamorphosis
Who is the author of 'The Alexandria Quartet' and the elder brother of zoologist and writer Gerald Durrell?
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lawrence durrell
Who is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright that wrote the novel 'The Human Comedy'?
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william saroyan
Who is the author of the novel 'O Pioneers!' which was the first novel she set in Nebraska?
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willa cather
Which novelist wrote the nonfiction book 'Miami and the Siege of Chicago' about the 1968 political conventions?
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norman mailer
What is the title of the first English detective novel written by Wilkie Collins?
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moonstone
Who is the author of the poem 'I Never Saw A Moor', which does not refer to her missing a production of 'Othello'?
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emily dickinson
Which author included the quote 'You and me, we've made a separate peace' in his collection of short stories, 'In Our Time'?
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ernest hemingway
Which British author wrote 'The Loved One,' a satirical novel about funerals in California?
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evelyn waugh
Who wrote 'The Hamlet'?
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william faulkner
Which fictional inventor and adventurer character has been reintroduced to print following the success of new Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books?
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tom swift
Who is the author who published 'Ethan Frome' four years after settling permanently in France?
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edith wharton
Which author, known for 'The Joy Luck Club,' delves into the supernatural in the novel 'The Hundred Secret Senses'?
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amy tan
Which poet is referenced in A SHROPSHIRE LAD with the line 'Malt does more than this poet can to justify God's ways to man'?
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john milton
Which French playwright wrote the comedy 'The Imaginary Invalid', which was later adapted into an opera by Napoli?
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molière
Which American author was helped by Harper Lee to research an article that later became the work 'In Cold Blood'?
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truman capote
Who wrote 'The Silver Box,' which premiered in 1906, and also published the first book of 'The Forsyte Saga' in the same year?
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john galsworthy
Which author won a Pulitzer Prize for his first full-length play, 'Beyond the Horizon,' in 1920?
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eugene o'neill
In 'Alexander's Feast' by John Dryden, he wrote, 'None but the brave deserves' what?
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fair
What New England state is mentioned in the title of a Mark Twain novel, and was also where he lived?
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connecticut
Who is the author of the 1996 novel 'The Keys to the Street', which centers on young Mary Jago but not chief inspector Wexford?
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ruth rendell
Who is the author of the book 'Deadlock' where V.I. Warshawski investigates her cousin's death, a former hockey star?
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sara paretsky
What is the title of the Ray Bradbury novel where fireman Guy Montague burns books?
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fahrenheit 451
Who is the late southern playwright known for co-writing the comedy 'You Touched Me!' which is based on a story by D.H. Lawrence?
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tennessee williams
Which poet was so active in the Imagism movement that Ezra Pound referred to it as 'Amy-gism'?
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amy lowell
Which English poet wrote the verse drama that led to the town of Pippapass, Kentucky being renamed Pippa Passes?
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robert browning
Who is the author of 'The Fountainhead' who wrote, 'Great men can't be ruled'?
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ayn rand
Which Dubliner authored the novels that hold the Nos. 1, 3, and 77 spots on the Modern Library's list of the 100 best 20th century English-language novels?
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james joyce
In James B. Stewart's best seller 'Den of' what term is used to refer to individuals involved in insider stock trading?
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thieves