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Robert B. Parker's Spenser Trivia Quiz

Named for an Elizabethan poet, but still the toughest, wittiest detective in Boston.

A multiple-choice quiz by astorian. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
astorian

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
153,076

Updated
Sep 14 23

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
1446

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. In his younger days, Spenser was a professional heavyweight boxer. Which former heavyweight champ did he once lose a match to? Hint

Rocky Marciano

Jersey Joe Walcott

Floyd Patterson

Sonny Liston

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Question 2 of 10

2. Spenser is a veteran of the Viet Nam war?

True

False

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Question 3 of 10

3. In which novel does Spenser become a father figure to a teenage boy with ambitions of becoming a ballet dancer? Hint

Hugger Mugger

Early Autumn

Small Vices

Taming a Sea-Horse

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Question 4 of 10

4. What does Spenser's girlfriend, Susan Silverman, do for a living? Hint

Newspaper reporter

Advertising executive

Professor of English literature

Psychologist

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Question 5 of 10

5. At what sporting event must Spenser and Hawk foil a terrorist atack in "The Judas Goat"? Hint

the Boston Marathon

the Super Bowl

the World Series

the Olympics

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Question 6 of 10

6. Who is Spenser hired to protect in "Looking for Rachel Wallace"? Hint

a witness to a Mafia don's murder

a Hollywood starlet

a radical lesbian author

the President's daughter

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Question 7 of 10

7. The Spenser adventure "A Catskill Eagle" takes its title from a passage in which classic American novel? Hint

The Red Badge of Courage

The Great Gatsby

Moby Dick

The Last of the Mohicans

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Question 8 of 10

8. Who are the villains of the Spenser novel "Pale Kings and Princes"? Hint

International arms merchants

Colombian drug dealers

Purveyors of child pornography

The Ku Klux Klan

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Question 9 of 10

9. Which of these was the first Spenser novel? Hint

Mortal Stakes

The Widening Gyre

Ceremony

The Godwulf Manuscript

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Question 10 of 10

10. What Boston police detective must Spenser regularly butt heads with? Hint

Lieutenant Biddle

Lionel T. Cramer

Martin Quirk

Dennis Becker

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In his younger days, Spenser was a professional heavyweight boxer. Which former heavyweight champ did he once lose a match to?

Answer: Jersey Joe Walcott

Jersey Joe, whose real name was Arnold Cream, was the oldest man ever to win the heavyweight title, before George Foreman.

2. Spenser is a veteran of the Viet Nam war?

Answer: False

Like author Robert B. Parker, Spenser served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. So, Spenser should be in his seventies by now! However, he never ages in Parker's books.

3. In which novel does Spenser become a father figure to a teenage boy with ambitions of becoming a ballet dancer?

Answer: Early Autumn

One of Parker's own sons followed the same career path and became a ballet dancer.

4. What does Spenser's girlfriend, Susan Silverman, do for a living?

Answer: Psychologist

Susan often seems in need of a good psychologist (or psychiatrist) herself!

5. At what sporting event must Spenser and Hawk foil a terrorist atack in "The Judas Goat"?

Answer: the Olympics

A racist organization is targeting black African athletes at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

6. Who is Spenser hired to protect in "Looking for Rachel Wallace"?

Answer: a radical lesbian author

Spenser slips up and allows an attacker to get to Rachel Wallace- luckily, the assailant's only weapon is a cream pie, not a gun.

7. The Spenser adventure "A Catskill Eagle" takes its title from a passage in which classic American novel?

Answer: Moby Dick

In "Moby Dick", Herman Melville describes the Catskill eagle as a bird that soars above all other creatures, even when descending into the deepest, darkest gorge.

8. Who are the villains of the Spenser novel "Pale Kings and Princes"?

Answer: Colombian drug dealers

The title of the novel came from John Keats' poem, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".

9. Which of these was the first Spenser novel?

Answer: The Godwulf Manuscript

"The Godwulf Manuscript" is filled with Spenser's patented wisecracks, but its descriptions of student radicalism on college campuses make it feel awfully dated, today.

10. What Boston police detective must Spenser regularly butt heads with?

Answer: Martin Quirk

If Quirk were half as tough as he pretends, he'd have locked up Spenser about 25 years ago!

Source: Author astorian

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