Pseudonymous Authors Trivia

1. Which name did "Time" magazine columnist Joe Klein adopt for the publication of his "Primary Colors" novel in 1996?

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Anonymous

"Primary Colors" concerned real events connected with the 1992 Clinton presidential campaign, and actual people thinly disguised as literary characters. In the book, the presidential candidate is described as being overly flirtatious toward women and prepared to say and do whatever it takes for him to win, ignoring his actual beliefs. Klein was suspected of writing the book from the outset but always denied it when challenged, going so far on one occasion as to say he was willing to skate his journalistic reputation on his denial. However after six months of denials, he owned up after the "Washington Post" obtained a handwritten manuscript of an early edition of the book and performed a handwriting analysis.

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: John Banville

Banville won the Booker Prize in 2005 for 'The Sea'. He is also well-known as an animal rights activist.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Amandine Aurore Dupin Dudevant

George Sand was a famous French novelist and a feminist. She had affairs of varying duration with such notables as Jules Sandeau, Prosper Merimee and Frederic Chopin.

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Sylvia Plath

"The Bell Jar" was the only novel written by poet Plath, and is a very engrossing read, made slightly uncomfortable by the knowledge that she committed suicide just a month after it was published.

From Quiz Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Answer: William Elliot

Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) was a prolific writer of novels and short stories, from the ridiculous to the horrifying and all in between. Among his works are "Dandelion Wine", "The Illustrated Man" and "Fahrenheit 451". Bradbury considered himself a fantasy writer, as opposed to a sci-fi writer. Bradbury's early short story, "The Electrocution", in 1936, was first published under the pseudonym William Elliot.

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: Frederick Exley

The book was 'A Fan's Notes' and was indeed largely autobiographical, from Exley's time as an undergraduate obsessed with college football star Frank Gifford to his descent into alcoholism.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Mary Anne (Marian) Evans

George Eliot was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She used a male pen name, she said, to ensure that her works were taken seriously.

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Ruth Rendell

Rendell wrote a total of 24 novels featuring Inspector Wexford before her death in 2015. The first one was "From Doon With Death" and the final one from 2013 was "No Man's Nightingale". She also published many novels that didn't star Wexford as well as 14 novels under the name Barbara Vine.

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: Walter Scott

Though Walter Scott had already achieved worldwide fame as a poet, he decided to publish his first foray into novel writing anonymously, because at the time prose fiction was still considered inferior to poetry when it came to the depiction of historical events. "Waverley" (1814) is based on the Jacobite Rising of 1745; its protagonist, Edward Waverley, is an English gentleman who becomes involved in the Scottish rebellion seeking to restore the Stuart dynasty. The novel became extremely popular, and is now widely regarded as the first historical novel in the western tradition. In the following years, Scott published a long series of novels on similar themes, which came to be known as "the Waverley novels". As his authorship was not revealed until 1827, Scott's novels were credited to "The Author of Waverley", and the author earned the nickname of "The Great Unknown". Edinburgh's main railway station is named Waverley after the novel. All the other options are major English writers who wrote at least one historical novel.

From Quiz Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Answer: Lawrence Baumgarten

Baum (1856-1919) entertained millions with his tales of 'The Emerald City' in the several novels written about Oz. To his credit he has 55 novels, over 80 short stories, 200 poems and several scripts. "The Wizard of Oz" has been a favorite since it was published, and has spawned films, plays and a musical. Baum wrote under several pseudonyms, such as: Captain Hugh Fitzgerald - The Sam Steele series, Suzanne Metcalf - "Annabel", Edith Van Dyne - the "Aunt Jane's Nieces" series and others. Laura Bancroft - "The Twinkle Tales".

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Pauline Esther Friedman

She came up with her pen name by combining the name of a Biblical figure (Abigail) with the last name of former U.S. President Martin Van Buren. She was born with an identical twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman, who also wrote an advice column under the name of Ann Landers.

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Aunt Jane's Nieces

The children in the series of ten books are Louise Merrick, Elizabeth De Graf, and Patsy Doyle, who are the children of Jane's younger brother and sisters. Their aunt, Jane, is a wealthy disabled lady, who in preparation for her death asks each of her nieces to visit her, so that she can decide who to leave her riches to. Although the books were originally published between 1906 and 1915, there has been a rekindled interest in them and they were reprinted between 2005 and 2007.

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: romance

Dame Agatha Christie was fascinated by human psychology, but felt that the expectations of the fans of her detective stories prevented her from exploring it in full. According to her daughter, Rosalind, the pseudonym Christie chose to write her six "bitter-sweet stories about love" combined her second name, Mary, and the name of some distant relatives, Westmacott. The first of these books, "Giant's Bread", was published in 1930, the year in which she met and married archaeologist Max Mallowan, her second husband; the last Westmacott novel was published in 1956. Christie managed to keep her Mary Westmacott identity a secret for almost twenty years. Though not as successful as Christie's mystery novels, the Westmacott books were received positively, which made the author very happy.

From Quiz Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Answer: M.A.R. Barker

Muhammad Abd al Rahman Barker, shortened to M.A.R. Barker, wrote "Tekumel - Empire of The Petal Throne" in 1974. American Phillip Barker was born in 1929 and became a linguist and professor of Urdu and South Asiatic Studies. Influenced by 'Dungeons and Dragons', he created his own role-playing games, based on his created world 'Tekumel'. In 1984 he published "Swords and Glory". His five novels are popular fantasy reading.

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: Magnus Mills

Mills is a master of the deadpan and once got a book blurb from a writer who usually stays mysteriously silent -- Thomas Pynchon, who called his first novel, 'The Restraint of Beasts' a 'demented, deadpan comic wonder'.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Charles Dickens

Many of Dickens' novels first appeared in periodicals and magazines in serialized form. Among his classic works are: "Oliver Twist"; "A Tale of Two Cities" and the unfinished "Mystery of Edwin Drood".

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Polymath and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin frequently used pseudonyms - the best-known of which is Richard Saunders, the character under whose name he published the yearly "Poor Richard's Almanack" for 25 years. Mrs. Dogood's persona, however, was created by Franklin at the age of 16, after he had tried several times to get his letters published in the "New England Courant", the newspaper founded by his older brother, James Franklin, at whose printing shop Benjamin worked as an apprentice. When publication was repeatedly denied, Franklin started leaving letters signed by Mrs. Dogood under the door of his brother's printing shop. The letters, 14 in total, were sent every two weeks, between April 2 and October 8, 1722; the first two letters introduced Franklin's fictional persona in great detail. The newspaper's readers found the letters (which poked fun at various aspects of life in the American colonies, such as hoop skirts) very entertaining - so much that a number of them offered to marry Mrs. Dogood. However, James Franklin was not amused, and eventually Benjamin left his post as an apprentice and fled to Philadelphia. The Silence Dogood letters are featured in the 2004 film "National Treasure", where it is suggested they are the basis for a secret code. Benjamin Franklin is the only one of the four options who was an inventor as well as an author and politician.

From Quiz Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Answer: Roger Longrigg

Scottish-born Roger Longrigg (1929-2000) was a prolific British writer of many genres. In 1956 he published "A High-Pitched Buzz". He was once awarded the John Cheever Mystery Writer Prize for a first published thriller, under the pen name Frank Parrish. This eventually caused some embarrassing moments when it was discovered that it was his 20th published novel. He also wrote "The Passion Flower Hotel" as Rosalind Erskine, and had several other pseudonyms. His works were often about horse racing and fox hunting.

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: Kingsley Amis

Amis published 'Lucky Jim' in 1954. Bertrand is the son of Dixon's colleague, Professor Welch, whose support Dixon needs if he hopes to win tenure.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Ellis Bell

Emily, a novelist and a poet, was the middle sister between Charlotte and Anne Bronte, whose pen names were Currer and Acton Bell, respectively. She is best remembered for her only novel, "Wuthering Heights".

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: his wife

C.S. Lewis was a bachelor for most of his life; however, when he was in his late 50s, he met American divorcee Joy Gresham Davidman, and in 1957 entered into a civil marriage with her in order to allow her to remain in the UK. They eventually fell in love after she was diagnosed with bone cancer, and were allowed a brief spell of happiness together until 1960, when Joy died of her illness. "A Grief Observed", a collection of reflections on bereavement based on Lewis' own notes, was published under a pseudonym because Lewis did not want to be identified as the author of such an intensely personal work. Davidman is referred as "H" (the initial of her first, rarely used name, Helen) throughout the book, which was republished under Lewis' name after his death in 1963. "A Grief Observed" inspired the 1985 stage play "Shadowlands" by William Nicholson, later adapted into the eponymous film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger (1993).

From Quiz Just Who Do You Think You Are?

Answer: George Bernard Shaw

Irishman George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) wrote many plays, among which are "Pygmalion", the story based on the legend of a sculptor who fell in love with his statue of a woman. The play and the musical "My Fair Lady" loosely follow the theme in that Professor Higgins remoulds a simple cockney flower girl into a woman of depth, charm and character. Shaw also wrote "Arms and The Man" and "Major Barbara". When Shaw's complete works were published, they filled 36 volumes.

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: Carl Hiaasen

Hiaasen also is a newspaper columnist and has written children's books, too.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Samuel Langhorne Clemens

Mark Twain is most noted for his novels "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", which has been called the "Great American Novel", and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer".

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Nicholas Blake

The other three possible choices have all actually held the title of Poet Laureate, but it was under the pseudonym Nicholas Blake that Day-Lewis wrote of the crime solving capabilities of Nigel Strangeways, for a total of 16 novels. Day-Lewis was the father of Oscar winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis and his sister, TV chef Tamasin Day-Lewis.

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: George

French author George Sand (1804-1876) is probably better known for her affair with composer Frédéric Chopin than her literary production. Her pseudonym was inspired by the name of fellow writer Jules Sandeau, with whom she had a relationship at the beginning of her career; she first used the pen name that made her famous for her 1832 novel "Indiana". On the other hand, though George Eliot (1819-1880) was already well-established as an editor and critic with her real name, she adopted a masculine pen name when she started writing fiction. One of the main reasons for this choice was that women authors as a whole were not taken seriously unless they wrote light romances; she also wanted to protect her private life from public scrutiny because of her relationship with philosopher George Henry Lewes (who was married), which lasted until his death in 1878. The first "George Eliot" work, published in 1857, was one of the short stories comprising "Scenes from Clerical Life".

From Quiz Writers, Pen Names & Protagonists

Answer: Philip Larkin

Larkin died in 1985. The "Times" of London named him in 2008 as Britain's greatest post-war writer.

From Quiz Pen Names - Literary Pseudonyms

Answer: Richard Bachman

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, King published a handful of short novels, "Rage"; "The Long Walk"; "Roadwork"; "The Running Man" and "Thinner", under the Bachman pen name.

From Quiz Noms De Plume

Answer: Kennilworthy Whisp

The book claims to be a copy of the actual book of the same name as found in Hogwarts' library, and as such is the definitive book on the sport, covering its history and the rules of the game. According to the notes about the author, Whisp is a quidditch expert and lives in Nottinghamshire, although that is my home county and I've never seen him yet.

From Quiz Why So Mysterious?

Answer: Gulliver's Travels

Jonathan Swift published most of his work under various pseudonyms. First published in 1726, "Gulliver's Travels" was meant as a satire on human nature and the literary subgenre of "traveller's tales". However, because of the political nature of much of the novel - most of which can be read as an anti-Whig satire - Swift had the manuscript copied to prevent his handwriting from being identified, then had it secretly delivered to his publisher, Benjamin Motte. Afraid of prosecution, Motte made some changes to the manuscript, leaving out the most controversial parts, and published the book anonymously. "Gulliver's Travels" was an immediate success - followed by many sequels, imitations and parodies - and is now considered one of the classics of English-language literature. The other three options are all major 18th-century English-language novels: "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe, "Tom Jones" by Henry Fielding, and "The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith.

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