Finding a "Great" Book to Read Quiz

Answer: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Published in 1925, "The Great Gatsby" is considered a classic in American literature. It's the story of wealthy Jay Gatsby, his obsession with Daisy Buchanan, the various wild parties he hosts, and the trouble it all leads to. Fitzgerald had difficulty settling on a name for the book and considered each of these at some point: "Among Ash Heaps and Millionaires", "Trimalchio", "Trimlachio in West Egg", "On the Road to West Egg", "Under the Red, White, and Blue", "The Gold-Hatted Gatsby", and "The High-Bouncing Lover".

Answer: Pat Conroy

Published in 1976, "The Great Santini" tells the story of high school student Ben Meechum, and his relationship with his fighter pilot father, Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meecham. ("The Great Santini" is Bull Meecham's nickname for himself.) The novel was made into a film in 1979, with Robert Duvall as Bull Meecham and Michael O'Keefe as Ben Meechum. Both actors were nominated for Oscars.

Answer: Michael Crichton

Published in 1975, Michael Crichton's third novel, "The Great Train Robbery", is a fictionalized version of an actual 1854 event where a massive gold shipment was stolen from a moving train. Crichton wrote and directed the film version that was released in 1978. It starred Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland, and Lesley-Anne Down.

Answer: Charles Dickens

This classic Dickens novel was published in periodical form from December 1860 through August 1861. Dickens's second to last novel, it tells the story of young Pip and his relationship with the beautiful Estella, the mysterious Miss Havisham, and Pip's mysterious benefactor.

It's been made into a movie several times, most recently in 2012 with Jerermy Irvine as Pip, Helena Bonham Carter as Miss Havisham, Holliday Grainger as Estella, and Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch. The definitive film version, however, is likely David Lean's 1946 effort starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson.

Answer: Ken Kesey

Published in 1964, "Sometimes a Great Notion" is Kesey's other great novel besides "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". It tells the story of an Oregon family who cut trees for a mill while union workers are on strike. A film based on the book was made in 1970 and was directed by, and starred, Paul Newman.

Henry Fonda, Lee Remick, and Richard Jaeckel were also in the film, and Jaeckel was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

Answer: Philip Roth

Published in 1973, "The Great American Novel" is about a fictional baseball league during World War II. It's not nearly as well-known as some of Roth's other novels, e.g, "Portnoy's Complaint", "Goodbye, Columbus", "The Plot Against America", and "The Human Stain". Unlike those, "The Great American Novel" has never been made into a film.

Answer: Don DeLillo

Published in 1973, "Great Jones Street" is about a rock star, unhappy with his fame, who retreats to an apartment on Great Jones Street. (Great Jones Street is an actual street in Manhattan's NoHo district.) Eventually, a terrorist group enters his life. Critics and fans believe the main character was inspired by singer Bob Dylan.

Answer: Roald Dahl

Published in 1972, "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" is the sequel to the considerably more famous "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". In this one, young Charlie Bucket and chocolate mogul Willie Wonka travel around the world in a flying glass elevator. There have now been three Charlie Bucket/Willy Wonka films, but none of them were based on this somewhat obscure book.

Answer: C.S. Lewis

In C.S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce", published in 1945, the narrator finds himself in Hell, but then soon begins a bus trip to Heaven. What follows is a meditation on good and evil, with the narrator reaching a fuller understanding of the world around him. It was originally titled "Who Goes Home?", but for some odd reason, that didn't sit right with his publisher.

Answer: Hunter S. Thompson

The original, full name of "The Great Shark Hunt", published in 1979, was "Gonzo Papers, Vol. 1: The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time". It is a series of essays from 1956 through 1979, and includes a variety of topics, such as the Kentucky Derby, skier Jean-Claude Killy, the Super Bowl, and Richard Nixon's 1972 Presidential campaign.

It is a deep compendium of Thompson's "gonzo journalism" style.