1. Marriot Edgar composed a poem entitled "Albert and the Lion". In which seaside resort was the poem set?
 Answer: Blackpool
Interesting Information:
Marriot Edgar (1880-1951) was the half brother of author Edgar Wallace. His monologues were made famous by entertainer Stanley Holloway. "Albert and the Lion" tells the story of a young lad's unfortunate encounter at the zoo.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Bournemouth, Brixham, Bridlington
2. Which 1963 novel by Morris West prophetically had a man from Eastern Europe elected Pope?
Answer: The Shoes of the Fisherman
Interesting Information:The book had a Ukranian, Kiril Lakota, becoming Pope Kiril I on the death of fictional Pope Pius XIII. In 1968, Anthony Quinn played Lakota (as a Russian) in a film based on the book. Ten years after the release of the film, the Pole Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. In another slightly spooky coincidence, Pope John XXIII died on the day of the book's publication. All the wrong answers are also Morris West books.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
The Devil's Advocate, The Salamander, The Last Confession
3. What famous German-born novelist wrote 'Steppenwolf'?
Answer: Hermann Hesse
Interesting Information:Hesse is author of "Steppenwolf" and "Siddhartha". He wrote high-level philosophical fairy tales. He also won the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature for his elegant explorations of the meanings of life.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Herman Hesey, Thomas Mann, Gunther Grass
4. Dmitri, Ivan, and Alexei were what title characters?
Answer: The Brothers Karamazov
Interesting Information:"The Brothers Karamazov" is a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The novel is about the three sons of a murdered father who share some degree of involvement in the murder. The book has been highly regarded since its publication, with praise from people such as Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
The Three Musketeers, The Last of the Mohicans, Little Women
5. Which American female crime writer wrote the books, 'Point of Origin', 'Black Notice' and 'The Body Farm'?
Answer: Patricia Cornwell
Interesting Information:Patricia Cornwell was born on 9th June 1956. In 2008 her novel 'Book of the Dead', won her the 'Crime Thriller of the Year' award, in the Galaxy British Book Awards. She was the first American to win this award.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Kathy Reichs, Tami Hoag, Tess Gerritsen
6. Which American author's works include "The Last Juror", "The Appeal" and "The Associate"?
Answer: John Grisham
Interesting Information:Before becoming a writer, John was a lawyer. Many of his novels are adapted into movies, such as "The Firm" and "Runaway Jury".
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
R. L. Stine, Christopher Priest, Jeffery Deaver
7. Stephen King specializes in what genre of literature?
Answer: Horror
Interesting Information:Some of his better known works include "The Shining", "Carrie", "Cujo" and "The Dark Tower" series.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Romance, Historical Fiction, Biographies
8. Who wrote the famous book 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'?
Answer: C.S. Lewis
Interesting Information:This book is part of the Narnia series which is made up of seven books.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl, J.K. Rowling
9. Which best-selling author of crime and detective novels said "Give me a decent bottle of poison and I'll construct the perfect crime"?
Answer: Agatha Christie
Interesting Information:Agatha Christie learned a lot about poisons from her work as a dispenser in a hospital pharmacy during the First World War. In her stories, she utilised poisoning as a method of murder more often than any other method.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Arthur Conan Doyle, Ellis Peters, Ruth Rendell
10. What does the title character in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" hang around his neck?
Answer: A dead albatross
Interesting Information:A statue of the Ancient Mariner was unveiled in September 2003 as a tribute to Samuel Taylor Coleridge at Watchet Harbor, Somerset, England. 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' was first published in 1798.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
A sharks tooth, A bundle of garlic, A shrunken head
11. What type of animal was Tarka in the 1927 Henry Williamson book? "Tarka the..."
Answer: Otter
Interesting Information:'Tarka the Otter' details the life of an otter from his birth and childhood right up until his heroic death in a fight with a tyrant of a dog called Deadlock.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Stoat, Vole, Weasel
12. What is the first name of the author of the "Canterbury Tales"?
Answer: Geoffrey
Interesting Information:Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400) was an author, statesman, and diplomat whose writings went far beyond "The Canterbury Tales". He reflected upon many of the most important problems of his time: political, philosophical, and social.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Jaime, William, Thomas
13. Which war is the setting for Erich Maria Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front"?
Answer: First World War
Interesting Information:Remarque's book is a work of fiction based on his own experiences during the war. The novel tells the story of Paul Baumer, a young man who voluntarily enlisted with his schoolmates in the German army in 1914. The novel was published in 1929, and turned into a film in 1930. It won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director (Lewis Milestone).
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Second World War, Franco-Prussian War, Boer War
14. What type of object does the titular hero gain his pseudonym from in the book "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Orczy?
Answer: a flower
Interesting Information:A scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing, annual plant that is found mainly in Europe, and is sometimes considered a weed. In the book "The Scarlet Pimpernel", the gallant main character is known only by this alias in order to disguise his true identity.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
a gemstone, an animal, a food dish
15. Willie Stark, the central character of "All the King's Men", was loosely based on what Louisiana governor?
Answer: Huey P. Long
Interesting Information:"All the King's Men" title is drawn from the nursey rhyme Humpty Dumpty.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Luther E. Hall, Earl K. Long, Edwin W. Edwards
16. What does the title of Joseph Heller's novel "Catch-22" refer to?
Answer: a bureaucratic conundrum
Interesting Information:Joseph Heller's experiences as a bombardier during World War II strongly influenced "Catch-22".
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
a type of parachute, a bar, a plane
17. Which character from J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" is the title character in Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit"?
Answer: Bilbo Baggins
Interesting Information:Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit" is set before the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy and describes Bilbo Baggins' travels and shows how he finds the one ring.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took
18. Who is NOT a detective created by bestselling author James Patterson?
Answer: Clarice Starling
Interesting Information:Clarice Starling is the detective who faces Dr. Hannibal Lector in "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Hannibal" by Thomas Harris. Alex Cross, Lindsay Boxer and Michael Bennett are detectives created by James Patterson.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Alex Cross, Lindsay Boxer, Michael Bennett
19. What's the title of the novel by Ann Brashares about four close friends who have to spend their first summer apart, sharing one precious item?
Answer: The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants
Interesting Information:There are three sequels to the novel - "The Second Summer of the Sisterhood", "Girls in Pants", and "Forever in Blue". There are also two movies based on the novels, which cover events from all four books.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
The Princess Diaries, Confessions of Georgia Nicholson, Twilight
20. What are Elie Wiesel's books "Night", "Dawn" and "Day" about?
Answer: The Holocaust
Interesting Information:"Night" (1955) is the most well known of Wiesel's works and is a autobiographical account of his experiences first in a ghetto in Poland and then at concentration camps - Auschwitz and Buchenwald. "Dawn" (1961) and "Day" (1962) are works of fiction, but they also draw on the author's own life experiences.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
The Industrial Revolution, The Titanic, Prohibition
21. Castle Rock is the setting for several of which author's books?
Answer: Stephen King
Interesting Information:Stephen King has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman, and a short story as John Swithen.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Tony Hillerman, Kate Flora, Mary Jewitt
22. Vladimir Nabokov's third novel "The Defense", involves which activity?
Answer: chess
Interesting Information:Nabokov published under the pseudonym "Vladimir Sirin" in the 1920's to 1940's, occasionally to mask his identity from critics. Nabokov also had a distinguished career as an entomologist even though he never learned to drive a car and depended on his wife Vera to take him to collecting sites.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
rugby, military conflict, emigration
23. What famous twentieth century French woman authored "The Second Sex"?
Answer: Simone de Beauvoir
Interesting Information:Simone de Beauvoir's study was a watershed book for introducing the concept of gender into contemporary discourse. For instance, she puts forth the idea that "one is not born a woman, one becomes a woman". This notion revolutionized feminist studies and contemporary thinking.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Colette, Jean Rhys, Meridienne
24. Which Pulitzer Prize-winning author told the story of the Finch family and the way they dealt with the issue of racism?
Answer: Harper Lee
Interesting Information:The Finch family feature in Harper Lee's classic "To Kill A Mockingbird". When published in 1960, it caused controversy because it dealt with sensitive issues such as alcoholism, rape, domestic violence, and racism.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner
25. What was the collective name given to the English poets William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey?
Answer: The Lake Poets
Interesting Information:Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey all lived in England's Lake District during the early 19th century. Dove Cottage in Grasmere, which was home to Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, was opened to the public in 1891.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
The Garden Poets, The River Poets, The Sunshine Poets
26. "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is a collection of 27 short stories written by which author?
Answer: Mark Twain
Interesting Information:This was Mark Twain's first published work in book form. All the short stories were published previously in newspapers and magazines.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Petroleum Nasby, Ogden Nash, John Banister Tabb
27. What is the name of the student in Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" who commits a cold-blooded murder?
Answer: Raskolnikov
Interesting Information:Raskolnikov is the troubled student in Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" who commits a cold-blooded murder and afterwards, tormented by his own conscience, seeks sympathy from a lady of the evening.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Yepihodov, Rasputin, Smerdjakov
28. When an individual author receives a Pulitzer Prize, what do they actually receive as a prize?
Answer: a certificate and money
Interesting Information:There are 21 categories of Pulitzer Prizes and in 20 of those categories, an individual author receives money and a certificate. The remaining category is the Public Service award for Journalism and this award is a gold medal - it always given to a newspaper, rather than an individual.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
an honorary degree, a trophy, a gold medal
29. Which fictional detective has an efficient secretary named Miss Lemon and manservant named Georges?
Answer: Hercule Poirot
Interesting Information:Miss Lemon has only made two mistakes in her entire career. Georges is a very dedicated manservant and always obeys orders, even if they are a little obscure. All of these characters were, of course, created by Agatha Christie.
Difficulty: Hard.
Some incorrect choices:
Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, John Watson
30. Which character from Spanish literature had an issue with a windmill?
Answer: Don Quixote
Interesting Information:Don Quixote was the central character in the novel of the same name by Miguel de Cervantes. Quixote was a bit eccentric, to put it mildly. He believed he was a knight and set off on adventures, including a battle with a windmill (which he believed to be a giant).
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Don Juan, Othello, El Cid
31. James Clavell, the author of "Shogun", mainly wrote novels set in which part of the world?
Answer: Asia
Interesting Information:Most of Clavell's novels were set in Japan or China. He was a prisoner of war during World War II in Japan, and the experience inspired his first novel "King Rat". He was also a screen-writer and wrote or co-wrote several films including "The Fly", "The Great Escape" and "To Sir with Love".
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Africa, Europe, South America
32. Written by Dan Gookin, what was the title of the first "For Dummies" book?
Answer: DOS for Dummies
Interesting Information:Subtitled "A Reference for the Rest of Us" and over 1500 titles later, the "For Dummies" books are still informing the do-it-yourselfers among us.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
Volkswagen Repair for Dummies, Mixed Drinks for Dummies, Wiki for Dummies
33. How do the boys usually refer to Chet Morton's car, the Queen, in the Hardy Boys book series by Franklin W. Dixon?
Answer: jalopy
Interesting Information:The Queen was a big, funky, dark green Oldsmobile, at least some of the time - the colour is described differently in some books. It was a huge boat of a car.
Difficulty: Average.
Some incorrect choices:
lemon, ride, old bus
34. Which character from American literature had an issue with a whale?
Answer: Captain Ahab
Interesting Information:"Moby Dick" was the book by Herman Melville, and Captain Ahab was the one obsessed with the white whale, whose name happened to be Moby Dick. He wasn't named after the electronica/pop star Moby, although that Moby, whose middle name is Melville, is alleged to be related to Herman Melville.
Difficulty: Very Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Lieutenant Roberts, Ensign Pulver, Deputy Gary
35. What character in English literature was devoted to Mr. Rochester?
Answer: Jane Eyre
Interesting Information:"Jane Eyre" was a mid-1800s novel by Charlotte Bronte, whose sisters were also novelists (Emily wrote "Wuthering Heights" and Anne wrote "Agnes Grey"). The plot of a governess who marries the master of the manor has since become a staple of the gothic romance genre, but at the time it was written, Bronte's plain, small heroine was a change from the usual female characters in novels.
Difficulty: Easy.
Some incorrect choices:
Anne of Green Gables, Annie Oakley, Anne Bonney
But that's just the start! Here are more great Book / Literature trivia questions:
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