Author's Life Trivia

1. Anna Sewell was 57 when her first and only novel was published. What is this children's classic that is written from the perspective of a horse?

From Quiz You Are Never Too Old To Start, Write?!

Answer: Black Beauty

Anna Sewell was born in England in 1820. At age 12, she hurt her ankles and was bound to crutches or carriages for the rest of her life. This is when she came to love horses and worried about the inhumane treatment of them. Still living at home, she wrote the book "Black Beauty" between 1871 and 1877. Often she would have to write from her bed or have her mother transcribe. The book is told through the horse's point of view and teaches empathy for work horses. With over 50 million copies sold, it is one of the best selling books of all time. Sewell died just months after its publication, but lived long enough to see the start of its success.

From Quiz Women of Literature

Answer: Lady Murasaki Shikibu

Lady Murasaki Shikibu (976-1031 BCE) was a court attendant to Empress Akiko of Japan. Her book is a romance and presents the customs of the aristocratic society of the time. Quzdaire, 10th Century, BCE, first woman poet and very highly regarded. Hrotsvitha, 935-973 BCE, considered the first female writer from German lands, first female historian and poetess. Li Qingshao, (1084-1155 BCE) considered one of China's greatest poets.

From Quiz Books by Prominent Leaders

Answer: Mahatma Gandhi

It is a detailed account by Mahatma Gandhi on all aspects of his spiritual life. It is divided into five parts starting from his childhood days, his non-violent struggle in South Africa, and his various experiments on the fundamental principles of Truth and God.

From Quiz "Everyone Has A Book In Them..".

Answer: Gillian Anderson

Anderson was co-author of this series with Jeff Rovin, who has written many books, including several best selling novels as well as biographies of Joan Collins, Charlton Heston and Jackie Chan. Anderson is best known for her portrayal of Dana Scully in the long-running TV show "The X Files". In "A Vision Of Fire", the first in the "EarthEnd" trilogy, a child psychologist tries to uncover the supernatural links between an Indian girl speaking in tongues, a student from Haiti drowning on dry land and an Iranian boy setting himself on fire. Antony Jones on the website "sfbook.com" reviewed the book as "not thrilling enough to be a thriller and doesn't have enough fantastic or horrific elements to feel like a genre novel. The actual idea of the story is a good one, it just hasn't been as realised as well as it could have. An ok read and nothing more."

From Quiz Common Link: Immigration

Answer: The Kite Runner

"The Kite Runner" was Khaled Hosseini's first book. Hosseini was born in Kabul, then moved with his family to Paris and eventually settled in San Jose, California. He became a medical doctor and practiced for ten years in California before turning to writing full-time.

From Quiz Politicians who did a bit of Writing.

Answer: Sir Winston Churchill

Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953 for his historical and biographical works, including his "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples". Churchill made a living from writing for most of his adult life. He was a journalist, biographer and historian. Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister at the beginning of the war. Churchill replaced him in 1940. Stanley Baldwin was the Prime Minister during the Abdication crisis. Rudyard Kipling was a prolific author of books such as "The Jungle Book". He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907.

From Quiz Left-Handed Scribes: Devilish or Divine?

Answer: Douglas Adams

Adams and Graham Chapman were friends and writing partners, which led to cameos by Adams in several episodes of "Monty Python's Flying Circus". After submitting a "Doctor Who" movie called "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen", he was hired as a script editor and wrote three serials for the fourth doctor, Tom Baker. "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen" eventually became "Life, the Universe, and Everything", the third book in the "Hitchhiker" series.

From Quiz Let's hear it for the girls

Answer: Science Fiction

Sheri Tepper is a science fiction writer. Her books often feature strong and resourceful women, such as Marjorie Westriding in "Grass" (1989). She tends to write with a feminist slant. She has been Hugo, Locus and Arthur C. Clarke awards nominated several times, and won the Locus Award in 1992 for "Beauty", a reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. Prior to marrying Gene Tepper she wrote under the name of Sheri Eberhart, and has also written as B.J. Oliphant and A.J. Orde.

From Quiz Write in Chicago

Answer: Carl Sandburg

"Chicago Poems," published in 1916, was one of Sandburg's early poetry books. Born in Galesburg IL, Sandburg spent much of his adult life in the Chicago suburbs of Evanston and Elmhurst. Although he ultimately moved to an estate in North Carolina, he still maintained his warm feelings for Chicago and Illinois.

From Quiz Authors Who Knew Medicine

Answer: William Carlos Williams

Williams (1883-1963) practiced medicine for over 40 years, while writing not only poetry but also novels, essays, and plays. The Pulitzer Prize was awarded to him posthumously for his volume entitled "Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems".

From Quiz Written by Musicians

Answer: Man In White

"Man In White" (1986) is the only book published by "The Man in Black". In this fictional novel Cash tries to portray the historical background and Saul's state of mind leading to his conversion, a pivotal event in the history of Christianity. Cash later recorded a song by the same name in his album "God" (2000). The wrong options are distorted titles of three of his most famous songs.

From Quiz Mystery Men of Literature

Answer: Homer

Though "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" are two of the cornerstones of Western literature, nothing concrete is known about their authorship. They have been attributed to 'Homer' since ancient times, but modern scholarship questions the veracity of this attribution. Did this 'Homer' really exist? Were these great works written by the same author or two different authors? Were they tales passed orally through generations? Were each of them written by several authors? It's likely that the facts of the matter will never be known. It's equally likely that they will remain two of the most revered masterpieces of Western literature.

From Quiz Literature By Politicians

Answer: Carter

Jimmy Carter wrote "The Hornet's Nest". It's set in the South during the American Revolution.

From Quiz Women Authors

Answer: Margaret Mitchell

"Gone With the Wind" is a classic novel, and a classic movie. The book was first published in 1936.

From Quiz Authors Behind Bars

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. His close friendship with Lord Alfred Douglas so infuriated Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry, that he made certain accusations against Wilde. Egged on by Lord Alfred, Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel. The case collapsed and he dropped the suit, but was then arrested himself and brought to trial. Found guilty of homosexual offences (illegal at that time) at his second trial, the jury could not agree in the first, and Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years' hard labour. He spent most of his imprisonment at Reading Gaol, where he wrote "De Profundis" - not "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"- that was to come later!

From Quiz Literature by Women

Answer: Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver also wrote 'Pigs in Heaven' and 'The Poisonwood Bible.'

From Quiz Books Written by Celebrities

Answer: Tina Fey

The book published in 2011 topped The New York Times Best Seller list for 5 weeks upon its release. From 2011 to 2016, about 3.75 million copies had been sold. The book is an autobiography comedy of Tina Fey, the life from childhood to adulthood and her crazy family life. In the book, she also relates her experience from her first jobs to "SNL" and "30 Rock" and her beginnings in comedy.

From Quiz You Are Never Too Old To Start, Write?!

Answer: Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker was born in 1847 in Dublin, Ireland. For many years he was a theater critic as well as the author of short stories and various books about English coastal towns he visited. Many theories abound as to how Stoker got the idea of the bloodthirsty vampire (friends from Carpathia, learning of Vlad the Impaler, etc.) but he never recorded the exact reason. Regardless, this 1897 collection of fictional diary entries, letters, and clippings about the meetings, travels, and death of Dracula turned into a part of popular culture and inspired stories and films. Stoker died in 1912 after a series of strokes.

From Quiz Women of Literature

Answer: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Beecher's "Uncle Tom's Cabin", published in 1852 was a very influential book that looked into the lives of slaves and the many injustices of slavery. Wheatley was a captured slave who was brought to the US and became a well-known poet who to published need the stamp of authenticity signed by well-know men. Her birth date is unknown since was a slave but she died in 1784. Tubman was a slave who escaped from slavery and created the Underground Railroad to help other slaves escape. Birth date unknown. Sojourner Truth (1787-1883) was a abolitionist, writer and speaker.

From Quiz Books by Prominent Leaders

Answer: Long Walk to Freedom

This is really a great and inspirational book by Nelson Mandela which was first published in 1994. The book related his early life, education, coming of age and the struggle with the white minority rule and the 27 years of imprisonment from 1962 until his release in 1990.

From Quiz "Everyone Has A Book In Them..".

Answer: Steve Bruce

Bruce wrote the books, about fictional football manager Steve Barnes, after retiring from playing and taking up management. All three books were written and published in 1999 while he was manager of Huddersfield Town and the plots cover events such as the murder of a star player and the kidnapping of a club janitor, complete with Irish terrorists, rogue Mossad agents, several kidnappings and a sniper, all within a football setting. Bruce himself, when asked why he hadn't written more replied, "Have you read them? Go and read them and you'll understand why." The poor level of writing, combined with Bruce's celebrity, however, means that the books are sought-after collectors items, regularly changing hands for prices in excess of £100 each.

From Quiz Common Link: Immigration

Answer: Funny in Farsi

"Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America" explores Firoozeh's family move from Iran to the United States. Her mother was so worried about sending her to American public schools that she attended with her daughter and sat in the classroom next to her, which Firoozeh said made her stand out more than she already did. The story is full of anecdotes as the family weathers culture shock together.

From Quiz Left-Handed Scribes: Devilish or Divine?

Answer: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

"Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead" portrays Hamlet's two old friends when they are not on stage during "Hamlet". Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, Polonius, Fortinbras, Horatio, and Ophelia all appear, though most of the play is a "Waiting for Godot"-like exchange between the two main characters. Regan and Goneril are two of King Lear's three daughters. Lodovico and Gratiano are two Venetians from "Othello". Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse are twin brothers in "The Comedy of Errors".

From Quiz Let's hear it for the girls

Answer: Tommy and Tuppence Beresford

Dame Agatha Christie is acknowledged as England's foremost crime writer. Her Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple books have sold around the world and have been made into plays, films and television series. In addition to this she also wrote "The Mousetrap", the longest running play in the world. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford appeared in only five books. The first "The Secret Adversary" is set before their marriage and was published in 1922. Fans had to wait seven long years to 1929 before the second book "Partners in Crime". The third "N or M" did not appear until 1941, and it was 27 years until "By The Pricking of My Thumbs" appeared in 1968. The final book "Postern of Fate" came in 1973. It was almost as if every so often she needed a break from her two main characters so wrote a "Tommy and Tuppence" book just for a change.

From Quiz One Solitary Life

Answer: Yoshida Kenko

Yoshida Kenko, who was born around 1280, and died around 1350, was originally named Urabe Kaneyoshi, and had a career as an officer of the guards for the Imperial palace. After his retirement from that position, he changed his name, became a Buddhist monk, and took up life as a hermit. It was during this time that he wrote the collection of 243 essays that were collected and published after his death as 'Tsurezuregusa'. These were written in a stream-of-consciousness manner (students of Japanese script would appreciate the significance of the brush-stroke technique he used) and became almost instantly popular as a source of reflections on nature and the meaning of life.

From Quiz Authors Who Knew Medicine

Answer: Anton Chekhov

Chekhov (1860-1904) is considered one of the greats of Russian literature. His medical background contributed to his work on social issues, including the creation of programs for famine relief and the humane treatment of prisoners. Among his other plays are "The Cherry Orchard", "Uncle Vanya", and "Three Sisters".

From Quiz Mystery Men of Literature

Answer: J.D. Salinger

Jerome David Salinger (b.1919) is most famous for his classic novel of adolescence, "Catcher in the Rye". It remains one of the most widely read high school texts in the U.S. J.D. Salinger should never be confused with J.J. "Dy-no-mite!" Evans, the character from the 70's sit-com, "Good Times".

From Quiz Written in Prison

Answer: Thomas Malory

Malory, the author, is usually identified as Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire. He became a knight by 1442 and a Member of Parliament in 1445. He spent most of the 1450s in prison on charges including murder, robbery and rape, though he does not seem to have been brought to trial and was released on bail more than once. His synthesis of the Arthurian legends is the source of most of the later Arthurian literature in the English-speaking world.

From Quiz Literature By Politicians

Answer: Nixon

He writes about Alger Hiss, Checkers, etc. There would be more crises - and bigger ones - after the book was written.

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Last Updated Nov 16 2024 5:51 AM

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