A Clowder of Literary Cats Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kurt Vonnegut

Published in 1963, the fourth of Vonnegut's novels, 'Cat's Cradle' is described as a satire on technology and scientific advances. The plot involves a substance called ice-nine, thankfully fictitious, a form of water which is solid and has the ability to turn any other water with which it comes into contact into ice-nine as well. An accident allows the escape of the substance into the nearest sea, so all the world's water is solidified, with dire consequences for mankind.

Vonnegut's other works include 'Slaughterhouse-Five' (1969), which is probably the best known, and 'Deadeye Dick' (1982).

Answer: Agatha Christie

This is just one of the novels from the prolific pen of Agatha Christie. It was published in 1959 in the UK (1960 in America) and features Hercule Poirot late on in the story. The action takes place in the Middle East and involves elements of spying as well as the inevitable murders. Poirot is brought in and, as you would expect, soon solves the case.

Agatha Christie has written numerous novels with Hercule Poirot or Miss (Jane) Marple featuring in many of them. Both these characters are much better at solving crime than any of the hapless policemen in the books.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

This short story by Poe was originally published in 1843. It tells the story of a man who kills his wife in a drunken rage and hides her in the wall of their home. Having believed himself to have got away with the crime, his guilt is discovered by the howling of his cat who has been incarcerated with the body. Being a Poe story, the theme is that of guilt, which incriminates the killer despite his efforts to suppress it.

Poe is well known for his macabre stories with 'The Pit and the Pendulum' (1842) and the poem 'The Raven' (1845) among them.

Answer: Tennessee Williams

'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' is a play written by Tennessee Williams, an adaptation of his own earlier short story. The characters include 'Big Daddy' Pollitt, his son Brick and daughter in law Maggie. The plot covers the patriarch's terminal cancer diagnosis, of which he is initially unaware, and the machinations of his family to secure their inheritance. The 1958 film version starred Burl Ives as 'Big Daddy', Paul Newman as Brick and Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie.

Williams also wrote 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (1951) and 'The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone' (1950).

Answer: Robert Heinlein

Another of Heinlein's science fiction novels, this one was published in 1985. It features the character Lazarus Long, who appears in several of the author's books, although the leading character in 'The Cat Who Walks Through Walls' is named Colin Campbell.

He has other names, though, including the name under which he writes. The novel has links to Heinlein's 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress', in particular the computer named Mike.

Answer: Margaret Atwood

Dating from 1988 and set in Toronto, 'Cats Eye' is a reflection on her childhood by an artist named Elaine. She suffered from bullying, due to her family's unusual lifestyle, with the ringleader being a girl named Cordelia. In later life, Elaine meets Cordelia again and finds that the tables have turned.

Among Atwood's other novels are 'The Handmaid's Tale' (1985) and 'The Testaments', its sequel, which gave the author a share in the Man Booker Prize of 2019.

Answer: T S Eliot

Because of its adaptation into the musical 'Cats', this might be the best known book in the quiz - it was published in 1939. 'Old Possum' refers to Eliot himself, with the nickname having been bestowed on him by fellow poet Ezra Pound. The book is a series of poems about cats and their lives.

Eliot is remembered for his many poems including 'The Wasteland' (1922), 'The Hollow Men' (1925) and 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' (1915).

Answer: James Patterson

'Cat and Mouse' is just one of the many novels Patterson has written featuring the character Alex Cross, a detective in Washington, D.C. He later becomes an FBI agent and psychologist. 'Cat and Mouse' is the fourth book in the series and was published in 1997.

The first two novels, 'Along Came a Spider' (1993) and 'Kiss the Girls' (1995) have been adapted into well received films, with Morgan Freeman playing Cross. An adaptation of the twelfth book, 'Cross', in 2012 was less successful though and seems to have brought an end to the film series.

Answer: Mary Stewart

Published in 1976, 'Touch Not the Cat' has elements of the supernatural and romance with the title referring to the motto of the Ashley family of the novel. The main character is Bryony Ashley, who has developed a telepathic relationship with a man who she believes must be one of her cousins. At the end of each chapter is a flashback to an ancestor of the Ashleys - information which turns out to be vital to the outcome of the story.

Mary Stewart wrote many novels, often with resourceful heroines, and also created a trilogy based on Merlin, the magician to King Arthur.

Answer: William S Burroughs

Dating from 1986, this short book of under 150 pages is an autobiographical account of the author's relationship with the cats in his life, particularly in his later years. It describes his own experiences but also expands into a history of cats and their impact on mankind since the times of the Egyptians.

Among other works by Burroughs are 'Naked Lunch', a novel from 1959 and 'The Western Lands' (1987).