Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 2000
Who wrote the 1941 novel 'N or M?' where Tommy Beresford tracks down 2 German agents?
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agatha christie
Who wrote the play 'Toys in the Attic' that starred Jason Robards in its original 1960 production?
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lillian hellman
In which Henrik Ibsen play is the title character more formally known as Mrs. Jorgen Tesman?
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hedda gabler
What word completes the title of Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel 'Imitation of'?
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life
Which Illinois poet authored children's stories such as 'Potato Face' and 'Rootabaga Pigeons'?
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carl sandburg
Which author, known for 'The Last of the Mohicans,' wrote the sea novel 'The Red Rover'?
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james fenimore cooper
Who dedicated his 1885 book 'A Child's Garden of Verses' to Alison Cunningham, his childhood nurse?
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robert louis stevenson
Which Welsh poet wrote the lines, 'Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light'?
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dylan thomas
Which author wrote the line, 'That's some catch, that Catch-22'?
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joseph heller
Which poet subtitled his nonsense poem 'The Hunting of the Snark' as 'An Agony in Eight Fits'?
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lewis carroll
In which Shakespeare play does a king at the beginning ask his daughters, 'Which of you shall we say doth love us most'?
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king lear
Who is the Lebanese-American author of the 1923 book 'The Prophet', which consists of 28 poetic essays?
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kahlil gibran
Which author, known for 'The Turn of the Screw,' was the subject of Leon Edel's Pulitzer-winning Volumes II & III biography in 1963?
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henry james
What did Keats say should be a thing which enters into one's soul, rather than prose?
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poetry
What is the Hans Christian Andersen tale featuring the line 'When we perish we turn into mere foam on the sea'?
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little mermaid
Which cartoonist had three of his 'Far Side' books become best sellers in 1986?
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gary larson
Which regal pen name was used by both Daniel Nathan and his cousin Manford Lepofsky for their mystery novels?
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ellery queen
In which of Shakespeare's plays does a character ask, 'Is this a dagger which I see before me?... or art thou but a dagger of the mind'?
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macbeth
Which author wrote books featuring characters named Tom Thumb and Tom Jones?
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henry fielding
Which author, recognized for his novel 'Invisible Man,' died in 1994 at the age of 80?
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ralph ellison
Who wrote the line, 'It is an ancient mariner, and he stoppeth one of three'?
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samuel taylor coleridge
What word completes the title of Michael Lewis' No. 1 best seller about Wall Street, 'Liar's ___'?
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poker
Who is the author of the novel 'The Day of the Locust'?
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nathanael west
Which book publishing firm was co-founded by humorist Bennett Cerf in 1925?
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random house
Who is the playwright who wrote the novel 'The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'?
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tennessee williams
What is the name of the Shakespearean character who purchases poison in Mantua, leading to his death?
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romeo
Which author wrote the autobiography 'Timebends: A Life'?
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arthur miller
What is the title of Richard Llewellyn's 1939 novel about a Welsh mining family?
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how green was my valley
Which satirical British author wrote the 1934 novel 'A Handful of Dust' that was later adapted into a 1988 film?
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evelyn waugh
In which Shakespeare play does the character Reagan first say, 'I am made of that self metal as my sister'?
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king lear
Which author, who wrote 'The Luck of Roaring Camp', later served as a U.S. consul to Germany and Scotland?
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bret harte
In which James Fenimore Cooper novel is the frontiersman Natty Bumppo the main character?
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deerslayer
Who delivers a final speech starting with 'I will not yield, to kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet' in a play by Shakespeare?
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macbeth
Which term did Gertrude Stein popularize for writers living in Europe and generally those who fought in WWI?
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lost generation
Who wrote 'A Little Tractate In Praise Of Dante' after completing the 'Decameron'?
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giovanni boccaccio
What object is featured in Whitney Otto's book titled 'How to Make an American' and includes sewing tips?
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quilt
Which author released the 1996 book 'Golf Dreams: Writings On Golf' that includes excerpts from his 'Rabbit' novels?
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john updike
Who is the other titled lady in the cast of 'Macbeth,' aside from Lady Macbeth?
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lady macduff
Who is the author of the 1932 novel 'Save Me The Waltz,' which is based on her life with F. Scott Fitzgerald?
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zelda fitzgerald
Who was the most famous nineteenth-century poet laureate born in the Lake District of England?
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william wordsworth
In 1978, which author followed up his decade-old book 'Soul on Ice' with another called 'Soul on Fire'?
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eldridge cleaver
In Shakespeare's Othello, who does Othello refer to when he says, 'The worms were hallow'd that did breed the silk' that made her handkerchief?
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desdemona
Which author had 7 of his hardboiled titles in the top 25 in a 1968 survey of 70 years of best sellers?
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mickey spillane
Which private eye created by Raymond Chandler was introduced in the 1939 novel 'The Big Sleep'?
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philip marlowe
Which author had his poems from the Scots Observer collected in 'Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses'?
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rudyard kipling
Who is the author of the book 'Winesburg, Ohio'?
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sherwood anderson
In which novel does the character Griffin become an unseen guest at the Coach & Horses Inn?
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invisible man
Which author began writing short stories while working for the W.P.A. in Mississippi?
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eudora welty
What word completes the title of the play: 'Inherit...'?
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wind
Which author created the character of Hercule Poirot, who retired from the Belgian police in 1904 to become an amateur sleuth?
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agatha christie
Who was the author whose friends called him 'Goldy' and who wrote 'The Vicar of Wakefield'?
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oliver goldsmith
Which author wrote 'The Age of Reason', a work often referred to as the 'Atheist's Bible' that states, 'I believe in one God'?
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thomas paine
In which Willa Cather novel does the heroine eventually marry a farmer named Anton Cuzak?
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my Ántonia
Who is the detective featured in Dannay & Lee's first book written to win a magazine contest?
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ellery queen
Who is the author of 'Private Lives' who remarked, 'Everyone but S. Maugham said I was a second S. Maugham'?
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noël coward
Who is the author of the 1927 collection of short stories 'Men Without Women' that includes 'The Killer' and 'The Undefeated'?
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ernest hemingway
Which famous hometown author caused a controversy in Oxford, Mississippi, when a magnolia tree was cut down to erect his statue?
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william faulkner
Which Chekhov play ends with the butler lying dying as the sound of an axe felling trees is heard offstage?
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cherry orchard
What Irish playwright used the name Sebastian Melmoth while in exile?
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oscar wilde
What one-word title is the 1983 bestseller by Dr. Noguchi?
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coroner