Books That Changed Our Lives Trivia Quiz

Answer: Baby And Child Care

'Baby And Child Care', by Dr Benjamin Spock, is still hailed as something of a workshop manual on how to bring up children. Generations of parents have sworn by it.

Answer: The Bell Jar

Written in 1963, 'The Bell Jar' is the story of a troubled young woman struggling with a mental illness. The book helped create a better understanding of a need for sympathetic treatment of mental illness, rather than the near-brutal electroshock treatment that had theretofore been used.
(The 'wrong' answers were all written by the American poet Mary Jo Bang)

Answer: The Dice Man

Luke Reinhart's "The Dice Man" (1971) was at times entertaining and yet deeply troubling. Faced with a decision that had to be taken, the hero would roll dice to see what to do. The basic premise seemed to deny the possibility of free thought, with the hero preferring to say "It wasn't me, it was the dice that made me do it."

Answer: The Catcher In The Rye

J. D. Salinger's 1951 novel was the story of a complicated young man trying to make sense of the narrow life that others expected of him. 'The Catcher In The Rye' outraged many for its use of profane language and was heavily censored in schools and libraries. 'Time' magazine has included 'The Catcher In The Rye' in a list of the 100 best English-language novels.

Answer: The Doors of Perception

Aldous Huxley's 'The Doors of Perception' inspired Jim Morrison to name his band 'The Doors'. His sad and much too early death perhaps showed that he followed the plot too closely.

Answer: Fear of Flying

Described by John Updike as the most "delicious erotic novel that a woman ever wrote", Erica Jong's 'Fear of Flying' was possibly the most controversial and talked-about book of 1973. This tale of sexual liberation was not to everyone's taste, even if can be said, in the end, to be deeply moralistic.

Answer: Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Richard Bach and Russell Munson's 1976 tome was all about a seagull, naturally, who became bored with the daily grind of seagullish stuff and went off to 'find himself'. The book was seen by some as a modern parable promoting positive thinking and self-help.

Answer: On The Road

Jack Kerouac's 'On The Road' was first published in September 1957. It told the barely fictionalized story of wanderings across America by Kerouac and his friends. Many regard it as the most influential book of the 'beat generation'.

Answer: Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas

'Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas' was written by Hunter S. Thompson and first published as a book in 1971, having earlier appeared in 'Rolling Stone' magazine. It was the story of a journalist sent to cover a sporting event in Las Vegas, who ended up being asked to cover a narcotics convention. The 'counter-culture' and the use of drugs were themes explored by Thompson in what is regarded as his typical Gonzo style. One critic wrote that "F&L" "perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the post-'60s era".
(The 'wrong' answers were all written by the American novelist Evan Hunter).

Answer: The Story of O

Pauline Reage was a pseudonym of Anne Desclos (though she often went under another pseudonym, Dominique Aury). Desclos/Aury was a well respected author translator and literary judge, and it was many years before she acknowledged she had written 'The Story of O'. Indeed, many people had assumed the book had been written by a man. When first published it was described as 'an appalling and condemnable ferment", yet in 2004, the French government announced the book was to be included on a list of national triumphs.
(The 'wrong' answers were books written written by Marquis de Sade)

[This quiz adapted from 'Fifty Books That Changed Our Lives', as listed in the 'Daily Telegraph' (London), April 2008.]