Literature Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 2000
Who is the author of the famous 1868 story 'The Luck of Roaring Camp' and edited the Overland Monthly?
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bret harte
In which state are most of William Faulkner's novels set, in an imaginary county?
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mississippi
In which city does Vicki Baum's novel 'Grand Hotel' take place?
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berlin
Who is the author of the novel in which Ricky Roma is the top real estate salesman?
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david mamet
What is the name of the character who had 'Great Expectations' and was jilted on her wedding day?
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miss havisham
Who wrote the tragic 1841 ballad 'The Wreck of the Hesperus', which was inspired by an actual shipwreck?
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henry wadsworth longfellow
Who is the author of the book with the subtitle 'A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented' and the title 'Tess of the d'Urbervilles'?
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thomas hardy
Which playwright wrote 'Lysistrata', where the women of Athens refuse to sleep with their men until peace is declared?
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aristophanes
Who is the poet for whom Izaak Walton wrote a moving but inaccurate biography, also known for the work 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'?
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john donne
Which author is Sir John Tenniel best known for illustrating books for, despite drawing cartoons for 'Punch'?
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lewis carroll
In which country are most of Nadine Gordimer's novels, including 'July's People', set?
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south africa
Which Pulitzer Prize-winning author set his novel 'A Death in the Family' in his hometown of Knoxville?
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james agee
What 1959 play did William Gibson write that has a 1982 sequel titled 'Monday After the Miracle'?
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miracle worker
Who is the playwright of 'Pygmalion'?
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george bernard shaw
Which country is August Strindberg, known for 'The Ghost Sonata,' considered the greatest dramatist of?
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sweden
In which novel do characters such as Hugh Conway, a British consul, Chang, a Chinese monk, and Father Perrault, the high lama, appear?
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lost horizon
Which female poet from Maine won a 1923 Pulitzer for several works, including 8 sonnets in 'American Poetry'?
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edna st. vincent millay
In 'The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes', who is the Scotland Yard inspector that frequently seeks Holmes' assistance when events take a bad turn?
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inspector lestrade
Which author wrote 'Candide,' described by Wordsworth as a 'dull product of a scoffer's pen'?
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voltaire
Who wrote the novel 'Appointment in Samarra'?
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john o'hara
Which author, even after her divorce and remarriage, continued to use the name of her ex-husband Edwin P. Parker II?
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dorothy parker
Which short story by Kafka included instructions to its illustrator not to depict the insect character?
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metamorphosis
Which author wrote 'The Wind in the Willows' for his son Alistair, who was also called Mouse and died at age 20?
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kenneth grahame
Which author went into exile after her uncle, the president of Chile, died in a 1973 coup?
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isabel allende
Who is the author of 'Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,' a largely autobiographical work?
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james joyce
Who is the author of the short story 'Rappaccini's Daughter,' included in the collection 'Mosses From An Old Manse'?
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nathaniel hawthorne
Which author includes the lesson 'Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody' in his teachings from kindergarten?
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robert fulghum
Which epic novel, published in 1957, tells the story of a physician's love for the wife of a Russian revolutionary?
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doctor zhivago
Which author wrote the book 'Heart of Darkness,' which served as the basis for the film 'Apocalypse Now'?
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joseph conrad
Which companion of Gertrude Stein authored the memoir 'What is Remembered' published in 1963?
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alice b. toklas
Which contemporary author is known for several suspense novels, including 'Let Me Call You Sweetheart,' that derive their titles from old songs?
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mary higgins clark
Which poet's unfinished dramatic work 'The Deformed Transformed' was left incomplete upon his death as a hero in Greece in 1824?
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lord byron
Who is the subject of 'The Far Side of Paradise'?
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f. scott fitzgerald
Which king in a Shakespeare play has a fool who represents truth and speaks in rhymes and songs?
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king lear
Who is the Southern author known for his third novel 'Sartoris', which was originally titled 'Flags in the Dust'?
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william faulkner
Which author wrote the spy novels 'Eye of the Needle' and 'The Key to Rebecca'?
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ken follett
Which famous author's father received an obituary written by Winston Churchill after dying in WWI?
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ian fleming
Which author originally wrote the novel 'The Third Man' as a screenplay?
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graham greene
In the poem 'Harlem', which poet asked, 'What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'
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langston hughes
Which Richard Adams work features characters named Hazel, Fiver, and Blackberry?
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watership down
Which author wrote the short story 'The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,' which is set on an African safari?
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ernest hemingway
Who is the author of 'The Day Christ Died', 'The Day Lincoln Was Shot', and 'The Day Kennedy Was Shot'?
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jim bishop
Which author, famous for 'Requiem for a Nun,' passed away on July 6, 1962?
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william faulkner
Which poet, known for his work on 'The Cantos,' used the pseudonym Alfred Venison?
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ezra pound
Who was the elder daughter of the Grand Vizier tasked with executing the Sultan's wives in 'The Arabian Knights'?
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scheherazade
Which language must you know to read the Mahabharata in its original form?
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sanskrit
Who is the author of the book 'Cimarron'?
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edna ferber
Which famous woman died just a few months after her only book, 'Black Beauty', was published?
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anna sewell
Who is the Russian playwright who wrote short stories under the pseudonym Antosha Chekhonte?
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anton chekhov
What is the title of the John Knowles novel set during WWII where Gene and Finny become friends at a prep school?
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separate peace
Emily Dickinson described this as 'the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.'
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hope
What is the name of the Ibsen title character who declares, 'I'm not going to make any more noise' before committing suicide?
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hedda gabler
Which author, as a child, said a 'long goodbye' to the U.S. and moved to England with his Irish mother?
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raymond chandler
In which city does George Eliot's novel 'Romola', featuring characters Savonarola and Machiavelli, take place during the 1490s?
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florence
Which American author wrote the 1853 short story 'Bartleby the Scrivener,' subtitled 'A Story of Wall Street'?
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herman melville
In which country does the majority of the events occur after Act II in Shakespeare's 'Henry V'?
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france
Who was honored as 'Caledonia's Bard' by the Masonic Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1786?
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robert burns
Who is the author of the book titled 'Looking Backward'?
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edward bellamy
Who is always credited as the author of the Nancy Drew novels, regardless of who actually writes them?
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carolyn keene
Which Shakespearean character exclaimed, 'My only love sprung from my only hate! Too early seen unknown, and known too late'?
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juliet