Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 2000
In which Aldous Huxley novel is time measured using the invention of the Model T Ford?
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brave new world
What is the nickname of the young pickpocket Jack Dawkins in 'Oliver Twist'?
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artful dodger
Which playwright authored 'The Irrational Knot' and 'Pygmalion'?
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george bernard shaw
In which country is the 1930s setting of 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'?
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scotland
What is the term for two lines of rhyming verse that are self-contained in both meaning and structure?
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couplet
Who wrote the futuristic novel 'The Last Man' and is also known for 'Frankenstein'?
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mary shelley
Who won the 1924 Pulitzer Prize for the work 'New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes'?
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frost
Who is the red-headed heroine featured in several books written by Astrid Lindgren?
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pippi longstocking
Which author created the character Stephen Dedalus, who appears in both their first novel and the novel 'Ulysses'?
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james joyce
Who is the Irish author known for his first and most understandable novel, 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man'?
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james joyce
In which city did Hunter S. Thompson send Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo to cover the Mint 400 race in his 1972 book?
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las vegas
Who is the author of 'To The Lighthouse' who was born Adeline Virginia Stephen and was a leader of the Bloomsbury Group?
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virginia woolf
Which poet wrote the lines, 'Some keep the sabbath going to church -- I keep it, staying at home --'?
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emily dickinson
Which Shakespeare play begins with the line 'Boatswain!'?
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tempest
Which author had a bronze bust unveiled near Sun Valley, Idaho, on the 67th anniversary of his birth in 1966?
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ernest hemingway
What novel begins with the line, 'It was Wang Lung's marriage day'?
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good earth
Which Danish author wrote 'The Little Match Girl,' a story that inspired an 1897 opera by August Enna?
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hans christian andersen
What is the name of the work that won Eugene O'Neill his second Pulitzer Prize, which centers on a prostitute and her Swedish seaman father?
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anna christie
What is the London address where Sherlock Holmes resided, as known by all his mates in 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'?
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221b baker street
Which author wrote the novel 'WLT: A Radio Romance' that is set in Minneapolis?
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garrison keillor
Which author of 'The Age of Innocence' began her career with a book on interior design titled 'The Decoration of Houses'?
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edith wharton
Who is the author of 'Heart of Darkness' who realized his dream of commanding a steamboat up the Congo River?
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joseph conrad
In which novel do the characters O'Brien, Mr. Charrington, and Winston Smith appear?
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1984
Which novelist was named Dame Commander in the Order of the British Empire in 1971?
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agatha christie
In which poem by John Milton does a Biblical hero speak of the strength he had 'while I preserved these locks unshorn'?
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samson
Who is the author of 'Pilgrim's Progress' who also delivered sermons as a lay preacher for the nonconformists?
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john bunyan
What is the title of the first novella published by Philip Roth?
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goodbye, columbus
Who wrote 'The Dance to Death' and 'The New Colossus,' with the former considered her best poem according to Reader's Encyclopedia?
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emma lazarus
In which novel do Lara and her family move to an apartment in 'the most disreputable part of Moscow' in Chapter 2?
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doctor zhivago
Which author, originally from Odense, was primarily known as a novelist before publishing his first fairy tales?
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hans christian andersen
Who is the author of the books featuring Sid Halley, an ex-jockey turned investigator?
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dick francis
In Patricia Highsmith's first novel, what mode of transportation do Guy Haines and Charles Bruno encounter each other on in 'Strangers on a'?
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train
Who wrote 'The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,' which was her only bestseller?
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gertrude stein
In which Italian city does E.M. Forster's novel 'A Room with a View' begin at the Pensione Bertolini?
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florence
Which stout detective character created by Rex Stout was first serialized in the Saturday Evening Post?
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nero wolfe
Who is the new bride of Shahriar in 'The Thousand and One Nights'?
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scheherazade
Under a joint pen name, which 'Congo' author co-wrote 'Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston 40-Brick Lost-Bag Blues'?
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michael crichton
Which female primatologist, while teaching at Cornell, wrote 'Gorillas in the Mist'?
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dian fossey
In which work by Chaucer do 29 pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn?
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canterbury tales
In which Nathaniel Hawthorne novel does a character named Roger Chillingworth assume the role of a physician?
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hester prynne
Which poet's 1892 collection, 'Barrack-Room Ballads', includes the poems 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' and 'Gunga Din'?
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rudyard kipling
Which British poet wrote the first line 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever' in his poem 'Endymion'?
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john keats
Which author wrote 'The Celestial Railroad,' a parody included in his 'Twice-Told Tales' collection, as a parody of John Bunyan's works?
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nathaniel hawthorne
Which author, born the same year as Shakespeare, was killed in a tavern brawl at age 29 and wrote 'Dr. Faustus'?
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christopher marlowe
Who is the first character to tell a tale in 'The Canterbury Tales' and is known as a medieval fighting man?
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knight
Which playwright wrote the offbeat comedy 'Suicide in B-Flat', as his girlfriend Jessica Lange could tell you?
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sam shepard
In which Hemingway novel would you find the characters Jake Barnes, Lady Brett Ashley, and bullfighter Pedro Romero?
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sun also rises
Which bestselling novel from 1977 is set on an Australian sheep station?
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thorn birds
Who co-wrote the libretto for the 1-act opera 'Bartleby' and also authored 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'
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edward albee
Who is the author whose more than 30 books were made into films, including 'Hondo' and 'How the West Was Won'?
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louis l'amour
Which 20th-century writer's book 'The Carpetbaggers' has gone through over 80 printings and sold over 10 million copies?
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harold robbins
What is the title of the last and most famous novel written by George Orwell while he was on the island of Jura in the Inner Hebrides?
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1984
Which literary work is quoted on Tyrone Power's grave at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, including the line 'Good night, sweet prince'?
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hamlet
Who is the modern writer known for works such as 'Fahrenheit 451' and for writing the screenplay for 'Moby Dick'?
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ray bradbury
Who is the author known for creating Captain Wolf Larsen and was the illegitimate son of a traveling astrologer?
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jack london
Who is the female author and playwright known for her 1941 novel 'Saratoga Trunk'?
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edna ferber
Which author is believed by some critics to have written his best work with the unfinished novel 'The Last Tycoon'?
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f. scott fitzgerald
Who authored the 'Chicago Poems' published in 1916?
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carl sandburg
Which poet not only wrote 'Don Juan' but also swam across the Hellespont to prove it was possible?
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lord byron
Which Shakespearean character asks, 'If you prick us, do we not bleed?...If you poison us, do we not die?'
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shylock