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Isn't Kurt Vonnegut Brilliant? Quiz

This quiz tests your knowledge of seminal curly-haired German-American fiction god Kurt Vonnegut. His books are really brilliant. If you get less than 3 out of 10 on this quiz, you don't know what you've been missing!

A multiple-choice quiz by cowswithguns. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
cowswithguns

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
73,705

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
1535

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. So what kind of bird did Kilgore Trout look after during his years on Bermuda, where he was born? Hint

Bermuda Rhan

Bermuda Ploe

Bermuda Orio

Bermuda Ern

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Question 2 of 15

2. In which district of New York does Kilgore Trout live? Hint

Cohoes

Ilium

Scipio

Athena

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Question 3 of 15

3. Which of the following summarizes the plot of 'Breakfast of Champions'? Hint

Gangly American, Billy Pilgrim, watches the bombing of Dresden from a meat factory

Humans evolve into small furry creatures with flippers

Science Fiction writer sends Pontiac car dealer round the bend

Drop-out teacher and tuberculotic writes autobiography in prison, where he's being held on suspicion

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Question 4 of 15

4. What's the name of Kurt Vonnegut's war buddy friend with whom he tried to research Slaughterhouse 5? Hint

Jack Patton

Henry W. Moellenkamp

Bernard V. O'Hare

Eugene Debs Hartke

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Question 5 of 15

5. What industrial strength cleaner did Dwayne Hoover's wife eat in her successful suicide bid in 'Breakfast of Champions'? Hint

Kleeneze

Drano

Drainkleen

De-Blok

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Question 6 of 15

6. Who is the oil tycoon who thinks Kilgore Trout should be the president of the United States? Hint

Elias Tarkington

Eliot B. Rosewater

Rabo Karabekian

Andrew MacIntosh

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Question 7 of 15

7. What are the names of the two machines created by Japanese computer wizard Zenji Hiroguchi in 'Galapagos'? Hint

Gokubi and Lithonark

Gaffner and Lithonark

Gaffner and Mandarax

Gokubi and Mandarax

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Question 8 of 15

8. Which of these words means 'extinct'? Hint

Barrytron

Tralfamadore

Gilgongo

Zakimundo

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Question 9 of 15

9. What's Billy Pilgrim's family profession? Hint

odorhinolaryngologist

orthodontist

optometrist

osteopath

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Question 10 of 15

10. What sign hangs near the perpetual motion machines in the library of Tarkington State Reformatory, formerly Tarkington College? Hint

The Overwrought Indulgence of Ignorance

The Blessed Inanity of Ignorance

The Complicated Futility of Ignorance

The Blessed Insanity of Ignorance

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Question 11 of 15

11. What did Eugene Debs Hartke's father do for a living in 'Hocus Pocus'? Hint

He was a gardener at Butler University

He was sales manager at Dwayne Hoover's Pontiac dealership

He worked for General Electric

He made non-biodegradable plastics for a firm called Barrytron

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Question 12 of 15

12. What subject did Eugene Debs Hartke teach at Tarkington College? Hint

Physics

English

Chemistry

History

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Question 13 of 15

13. What was Kurt Vonnegut's first novel called? Hint

Player Piano

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

God Bless You, Mr Rosewater

Slapstick

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Question 14 of 15

14. What's the name of the ex-con who takes a liking to Dwayne Hoover and goes around his dealership dressed in a suit buffing up cars like there's no tomorrow? Hint

Stevie Hoobler

Joseph Hoobler

Wayne Hoobler

Dane Hoobler

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Question 15 of 15

15. How does Kurt Vonnegut describe the art of writing? (he probably does it a lot of times, but there's actually a treatise he's co-written on writing with this title). Hint

'Like shaking hands with God'

'If I could choose another career, I'd be an accountant'

'Purgatory on Paper'

'You lose yourself and just let the words flow like a river'.

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. So what kind of bird did Kilgore Trout look after during his years on Bermuda, where he was born?

Answer: Bermuda Ern

It's the Bermuda Ern...

2. In which district of New York does Kilgore Trout live?

Answer: Cohoes

He lives in Cohoes. Billy Pilgrim's from Ilium, and Scipio and Athena are where the action in 'Hocus Pocus' mostly takes place.

3. Which of the following summarizes the plot of 'Breakfast of Champions'?

Answer: Science Fiction writer sends Pontiac car dealer round the bend

The others are the plots for 'Galapagos', 'Hocus Pocus' and 'Slaughterhouse 5'.

4. What's the name of Kurt Vonnegut's war buddy friend with whom he tried to research Slaughterhouse 5?

Answer: Bernard V. O'Hare

The others are all characters from 'Hocus Pocus'.

5. What industrial strength cleaner did Dwayne Hoover's wife eat in her successful suicide bid in 'Breakfast of Champions'?

Answer: Drano

Vonnegut's own mother committed suicide - in fact, many of his books are almost autobiographical in their frankness and Vonnegut is not afraid of bringing his personal life into the story.

6. Who is the oil tycoon who thinks Kilgore Trout should be the president of the United States?

Answer: Eliot B. Rosewater

Eliot is another character of Vonnegut's who appears in more than one book. Kilgore Trout, a hack science fiction writer who never gets published except in dirty magazines and a self-confessed alter-ego of Vonnegut, is probably the one who appears the most.

7. What are the names of the two machines created by Japanese computer wizard Zenji Hiroguchi in 'Galapagos'?

Answer: Gokubi and Mandarax

Mandarax being the one reminder in the post-apocalyptic furry world of what human civilisation was like as we knew it one million years before.

8. Which of these words means 'extinct'?

Answer: Gilgongo

This is taken from another one of Kilgore Trout's stories, from 'Breakfast of Champions'.

9. What's Billy Pilgrim's family profession?

Answer: optometrist

That's one from 'Slaughterhouse 5'.

10. What sign hangs near the perpetual motion machines in the library of Tarkington State Reformatory, formerly Tarkington College?

Answer: The Complicated Futility of Ignorance

Well, it's the only one that sounds right, isn't it. That one came from 'Hocus Pocus'.

11. What did Eugene Debs Hartke's father do for a living in 'Hocus Pocus'?

Answer: He made non-biodegradable plastics for a firm called Barrytron

Hartke's grandfather was the gardener, Vonnegut himself worked for GE, and the sales manager at the dealership was in fact Harry Le Sabre.

12. What subject did Eugene Debs Hartke teach at Tarkington College?

Answer: Physics

Physics was the one subject he'd excelled in at West Point.

13. What was Kurt Vonnegut's first novel called?

Answer: Player Piano

A bit of an easy one, that one. Or at least it is if you like looking at 'Also By The Same Author' sections from books. Which I don't, really.

14. What's the name of the ex-con who takes a liking to Dwayne Hoover and goes around his dealership dressed in a suit buffing up cars like there's no tomorrow?

Answer: Wayne Hoobler

He's entranced by the fact that their names are quite similar...

15. How does Kurt Vonnegut describe the art of writing? (he probably does it a lot of times, but there's actually a treatise he's co-written on writing with this title).

Answer: 'Like shaking hands with God'

And that's it. It was quite a tough quiz, but not that tough if you've read a few of his books...

Source: Author cowswithguns

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor LadyCaitriona before going online.
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