Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 2000
Who is the author whose first book, 'Cabbages and Kings', was published in 1904?
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o. henry
Which screenwriter, known for 'Network,' wrote the sci-fi thriller 'Altered States' as his first novel?
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paddy chayefsky
Which author, known as Billy or 'Memmie' to his family during his upbringing in Oxford, Mississippi, gained significant acclaim for his literary achievements?
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william faulkner
Which poet, known for her suffering and breakdown, is the subject of the controversial 1989 biography 'Bitter Fame'?
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sylvia plath
Which author, known for 'Watchers' and 'Intensity', published a thriller titled 'Sole Survivor' in 1997?
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dean koontz
Who was the literary captain of the whaling ship Pequod?
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ahab
Which author, known for writing 'A Clockwork Orange', also penned a series of comic novels about a poet named Enderby?
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anthony burgess
Who is the author of the story that inspired Burt Lancaster's film debut in 'The Killers'?
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ernest hemingway
Which novel features a mysterious wealthy man who throws extravagant parties to win back a former lover, only to be killed at the end?
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great gatsby
Who is the author of 'The Icarus Agenda', 'The Osterman Weekend', and 'The Matarese Circle'?
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robert ludlum
In the novel 'All the King's Men', who kills the governor in the capitol?
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willie stark
In Shakespeare's play 'Othello', what dreaded habit is associated with the Anthropophagi, as mentioned by Othello in his stories to Desdemona?
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cannibalism
Who is the author of "A Lost Lady", "The Song of the Lark", and "My �ntonia"?
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willa cather
Which British novelist and essayist believed that human character changed 'on or about December 1910'?
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virginia woolf
Who is the author of 'Lord Jim' who spent part of his youth in exile in Russia due to his father's involvement as a Polish revolutionary?
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joseph conrad
Who is the 19th-century author of 'Les Fleurs du Mal' who also translated Poe's tales into French?
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charles baudelaire
Who is the author of the novel featuring two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who represent 'Sense & Sensibility'?
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jane austen
Which author wrote the novel 'Falconer' where Falconer is a prison?
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john cheever
Who is the playwright of the play 'Mourning Becomes Electra' which begins with a band playing 'John Brown's Body'?
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eugene o'neill
Who is the title character of a Shakespearean tragedy set mostly in Cyprus, where he serves as governor?
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othello
Raymond Chandler wrote 7 novels featuring Philip Marlowe, including 'The Long Goodbye' and which other 'Farewell' book?
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farewell, my lovely
Who is the master of the espionage thriller that has written three books about the top assassin Jason Bourne?
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robert ludlum
Which poet once wrote, 'I choose to be a plain New Hampshire farmer'?
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robert frost
Which playwright was born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia in 1937 and had his original surname as Straussler?
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tom stoppard
Which play features the characters Dr. Gibbs, George Gibbs, and Emily Webb?
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our town
Which Quaker poet wrote 'Snow-Bound,' a narrative poem about a family isolated during a blizzard?
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john greenleaf whittier
Which playwright completed his final play, 'Buoyant Billions', at the age of 92?
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george bernard shaw
Which author did Stephen King refer to in the 1980s by saying, 'I've seen the future of horror, and its name is'?
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clive barker
Which Mississippian author, known for her love of the South, won a Pulitzer Prize for 'The Optimist's Daughter'?
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eudora welty
What is the nickname of Theodore Hickman in Eugene O'Neill's play 'The Iceman Cometh'?
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hickey
What is the name of a poem in which the first letter of each line, when read downward, spells out a word?
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acrostic
Which author, described by Time magazine as 'the tape recorder's best friend,' wrote the book 'Working'?
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studs terkel
Which Southern author completed the Snopes Trilogy with the novel 'The Mansion'?
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william faulkner
Who wrote the quote, 'A man is never so on trial as in the moment of excessive good fortune' in 'Ben Hur'?
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lew wallace
Who authored the poem 'To a Mountain Daisy,' published alongside 'To a Mouse' and 'To a Louse' in 1786?
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robert burns
In James Whitcomb Riley's quote, what is mentioned when he says, 'When the frost is on this, the fodder's in the shock'?
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pumpkin
Who left her New York Times column in 1994 and also published the novel 'One True Thing' in the same year?
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anna quindlen
What is Starbuck afraid no man in his boat should lack fear of, according to his statement?
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whale
Which Shakespeare play mentions 'Scone' as a coronation site in its last word?
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macbeth
Who is the title character in Shakespeare's play that is friends with Benvolio?
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romeo
What is the title of the Hemingway novel about the 'Lost Generation' that is narrated by Jake Barnes?
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sun also rises
Who is the author of 'Skinwalkers', a novel about Navajos who turn away from their people and practice witchcraft?
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tony hillerman
What book precedes James Redfield's 'The Tenth Insight' in his series about spiritual exploration?
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celestine prophecy
Who is the author of the famous story 'Death in Venice,' which opens in Munich?
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thomas mann
Who is the author of the books 'Penrod', 'Penrod and Son', and 'Penrod Jashber'?
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booth tarkington
Which author started his 'Deadly Sins' series in 1973 with 'The First Deadly Sin'?
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lawrence sanders
What American poet is known by the nickname 'The Belle of Amherst'?
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emily dickinson
Which author, known for novels such as 'Emma' and 'Mansfield Park,' published her works anonymously during her lifetime?
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jane austen
Which author wrote the 1968 book 'The Teachings of Don Juan', based on the practices of the Yaqui Indians?
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carlos castaneda
What novel begins with the line 'Howard Roark laughed'?
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fountainhead
What is the title of the 'Declaration of' book written by a person referred to as MRS. SMITH in 1972?
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conscience
Which author's play 'Fences' features Troy Maxson complaining that black men don't get to drive garbage trucks?
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august wilson
What is the native country of Knut Hamsun, the 1920 Nobel Prize winner whose 1890 novel 'Hunger' made him famous?
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norway
Who is the author of 'The Devil's Dictionary', which was originally published as 'The Cynic's Word Book' in 1906?
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ambrose bierce
Which author created the characters Moses Elkanah Herzog, Eugene Henderson, and Von Humboldt Fleisher?
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saul bellow
Who was the author of both 'To Celia' and 'Come, My Celia'?
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ben jonson
Who received a dowry that included half of Baptista's lands and 20,000 crowns after Baptista's death?
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petruchio
Who wrote the lines, 'That's my last duchess painted on the wall, looking as if she were alive. I call that piece a wonder, now'?
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robert browning
Which author of 'Our Mutual Friend' wrote the phrase 'He'd be sharper than a serpent's tooth, if he wasn't as dull as ditch water'?
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charles dickens
What is the name of the pet cat of Alice, who had kittens at the start of 'Through the Looking-Glass'?
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dinah