Non-Fiction of the 1960s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chemical industry

Carson documented the detrimental indiscriminate use of pesticides. She also accused the chemical industry of being less than candid on the dangers. Both public officials and the general public were complicit for accepting claims without investigation. Partly the banning of DDT was a result of the stir caused by the book.

Answer: As a primate, man is not fully covered with hair

Morris took a scientific approach that captivated readers as he treated man as a primate, an animal, not as some superior being. The concept was serialized in the Daily Mirror newspaper, then a book, and translated into 23 languages. Many focused on the sexual aspects of the book, on such details as the fleshy part of the ear lobe being an erogenous zone.

Answer: The Guns of August

"The Berlin Diary"(1941) told of Shirer's experiences as a radio reporter in Germany during the rise of the Nazis, a tale he completed with "End of Berlin Diary"(1947). "Mid-Century Journey"(1952) expanded with a view of cause and effect over Europe in general. These were folded into the "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" regarded as one of the best books ever on World War Two in Europe.

"The Guns of August"(1962), is a Pulitzer Prize winning history of World War One by Barbara Tuchman.

Answer: The Joy of Cooking

In 2006 the eighth edition was published but much of the popularity of the cookbook peaked in 1964 when both a paperback in two editions and the comb-back copy were released. Irma Rombauer died in 1962. Her work and subsequent editions was carried on by her daughter Marion Rombauer Becker who also did the illustrations until her death in 1976. A grandson, Ethan Becker, has been involved in later editions and is a designer and manufacturer of chef-quality knives.

Through the years the book has evolved. Some recipes have been simplified as early editions were labor intensive. Later editions allow the use of 'store bought' sauces and condiments. Eighteen million copies have been sold.

Answer: Five

White covered the campaigns of 1960, 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1980, so he had a 'cottage industry' reporting elections. The general public as well as critics had to shift the manner in which they viewed and described politics. It fit well in the new style of journalism that was dramatic and read like a novel.

White majored in China Studies at Harvard and wrote extensively on China and its politics and culture.

At White's death of a sudden stroke, William F. Buckley, Jr. wrote that White "conjoined with his fine mind, his artist's talent, his prodigious curiosity, there was a transcendent wholesomeness, a genuine affection for the best in humankind... he revolutionized the art of political reporting".

Answer: The Story of Civilization

To say the "Story of Civilization" was a monumental achievement would be an understatement. The first volume was released in 1935 and the last in 1975. Ironically, after four million words across 10,000 pages, it is incomplete and ends with the Napoleonic Era. Will, at 96, and Ariel, at 68, both died in 1981. Will was her teacher and resigned his teaching position to marry her when she was just fifteen.

The first few volumes only acknowledge Ariel as a researcher but in the last six she is listed as co-author. The books are often sold as a set and have been converted to audio.

Answer: The Peter Principle

Peter asserted that the the potential of an employee for a promotion is based on their performance in the current job. Their promotion may lead them to a position to their "level of incompetence". Or in other words to a position they are not prepared for. Thus stagnation may grow in the organization.

Peter suggests making support and technical positions more attractive with prestige and rewards rather than taking workers out of positions for which they may not be qualified.

"The Peter Principle" was written in a humorous vein but is based on solid management observations.

Answer: A Moveable Feast

Hemingway committed suicide in 1961 and his fourth wife, Mary Hemingway, took on the task of doing the final editing prior to publication. Some of the editorial decisions she made were questioned. For instance, references to Hadley, Hemingway's first wife, were omitted; the order of chapters was changed from Hemingway's intent and disrupted the flow of the book; chapters that Hemingway had omitted were reinserted. Subsequent editions have tried to address these issues.

A 'moveable feast' is a holiday that does not have a prescribed date. In Hemingway's own words: "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

Hemingway details his interactions and feelings for a long list of people including Aleister Crowley, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, Hilaire Belloc, Pascin, John Dos Passos, Wyndham Lewis, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein and Hermann von Wedderkop.

Answer: The New Yorker

In his research Capote compiled 8000 pages of notes and took six years. His research assistant was Harper Lee, known for her novel "To Kill a Mockingbird"(1960). Together they interviewed everyone who knew the Cutler family, investigators, law enforcement, as well as the two killers, Smith and Hickok. Publication was held off until their execution by hanging.

With the six million dollars he allegedly earned from "In Cold Blood", Capote became less a writer and more of a celebrity, appearing in films and on television and indulging himself in a variety of alcohol and drug regimes. He also gained fame as a prevaricator as he claimed to have had sex with Errol Flynn and to be a personal friend of Greta Garbo, neither of whom he had ever met.

Later, although "In Cold Blood" was innovative and an example of novelization of true events, many recanted the interviews that they had given Capote and said that either that they were misquoted or misinterpreted. Certain fine details may have been edited with poetic license.

Answer: Hell's Angels

After Thompson had written a magazine article about motorcycle culture, he received offers to expand into a book. After meeting with some Hell's Angels leaders, he assumed an alias, Birney Jarvis, and played low key in his interactions with the bikers.

As they grew comfortable with him, they allowed him to tape record them. But suspicions flew that Thompson was writing a book and that they wanted to be compensated for their participation. This resulted in a 'stomping'-a severe beating by the gang.