What are You Reading for Breakfast? Quiz

Answer: Tiffany's

"Breakfast at Tiffany's" is Truman Capote's 1958 novella about Holly Golightly, the the whimsical former country girl attempting to re-create herself as a New York socialite. The "Tiffany's" in question is, of course, not a restaurant, but the famous jewelry store where Holly imagines herself buying the most expensive items. Capote apparently based the character on several friends of his.

The narrator of the story (who is unnamed) lives in the same apartment building as Holly, and is inexorably drawn into her life. According to Capote in interviews, despite living off the largesse of the rich men she befriends, Holly is an "American Geisha" rather than a prostitute. Audrey Hepburn produced an iconic screen characterization in the lead role of the 1961 film version.

Answer: Breakfast of Champions

Kurt Vonnegut's seventh novel, with familiar themes of alienation, madness and the dystopian nature of America, is also brilliantly satirical and wickedly funny. The plot centers on a small town big shot who loses his mind. When a visiting novelist comes to discuss his latest science fiction book, the town owner thinks the book is true, and directed at him personally. The consequences are hilarious, appalling, and disastrous at the same time. While the title slogan is a General Mills trademark and is thoroughly identified with Wheaties cereal, it has evolved another darker meaning; that of an alcoholic drink in the morning.

"Rabbit Redux" is the only other actual title of a novel listed, and it had no connection to the "silly rabbit" from the Trix commercial. "Shot from Guns" was the slogan for Quaker Puffed Rice, and "Snap, Crackle and Pop" dates all the way back to 1932. They are the mascot characters used to sell Rice Krispies, based on the sound supposedly made when milk hits the cereal.

Answer: peach

"James and the Giant Peach" is another children's favorite from this great author. The simple story is that James flies away from his bad home life on a fantastical worldwide journey, riding in the peach with several magic bugs for companions. First published in 1961 and illustrated by Nancy Burkert (US edition) and Michael Simeon (UK edition), the book is whimsical and light, yet delivers a subtly powerful message about how the dysfunction of adults impact vulnerable children, and how children cope with it.

It was made into a successful movie in 1995, using a combination of live action and animation. The film was produced by the visionary Tim Burton.

Answer: A Clockwork Orange

Speaking of dystopian novels, John Anthony Burgess Wilson (1917-1993), the English writer and composer, is the author of "A Clockwork Orange", a work which helps define the genre. Kubrick and McDowell are the director and star, respectively, of the 1971 movie adaptation, which generated huge attention and controversy because of its subject matter. Burgess credits the film with significantly increasing the popularity of his work. Alex is the sociopathic protagonist, and he's every adult's worst nightmare; a man-child with no conscience or moral compass, a violent nature, and the willingness to use his high intelligence to enlist others in his nefarious pursuits.

The novel, published in 1962, was set sometime in the near future. Instead of alcohol to fuel their mischief, Alex and his gang start their nights in a local "milk bar" where the seemingly wholesome beverage can be augmented with the patron's drug of choice. Alex's terrible crimes eventually land him in prison and mental institutions, where efforts to rehabilitate him using the most modern methods of mind control are frightening, to say the least.

They include using his favorite music by Beethoven to recondition him. The book has a somewhat upbeat and redemptive final chapter which was omitted from the US editions, and which Kubrick felt was unconvincing and not consistent with the story. Thus Kubrick's vision realized in the movie has a dark and foreboding prognosis.

Answer: Dr. Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel (1904-1991) wrote over sixty books in his lifetime. The numerous adaptations of these works include television specials and series, films, and a Broadway musical ("Seussical"- from 2000). "Green Eggs and Ham" was published in 1960, and it quickly became a favorite.

As of 2015, it had sold more than eight million copies, and was one of the biggest selling hard cover books of all time. The genius of the book is in its extremely simple language. Publisher Bennett Cerf challenged Seuss to write a story using only fifty or fewer different words.

He not only pulled it off, but included only one word longer than five letters. Any guesses? The word is "anywhere".

Answer: airline stewardesses

From love in the luggage rack to bacchanals in the bathroom, Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones witnessed it all. The only trouble is, they were fictitious airline stewardesses, made up from the imagination of real author Donald Bain. After interviewing two real stewardesses, he felt their experiences weren't enough to sustain a whole book. So, he wrote it himself, then enlisted them to assume the fictitious names, pose as the book's authors, and go on tour to publicize it.

They had so much fun enjoying their new celebrity status that one of them changed her name to her pen name.

The book was so successful that Bain went on to write three sequels. He revealed the trickery in his 2006 autobiography, "Murder HE wrote: A Successful Author's Life".

Answer: Sausages

British comedy/fantasy author Tim Holt has been likened to well known popular fantasy novelist Douglas Adams, and the comparison is apt. Born in London in 1961, and educated at Westminster School and Oxford, Holt is also the son of novelist Hazel Holt. "Life, Liberty..." was published in 2011.

In the story, property lawyer Polly Mayer and her brother Don, who writes musical jingles for advertising, get involved in a "what came first, chicken or egg" metaphysical riddle contest. Things get weird when Polly's coffee starts disappearing out of her cup, and when she goes to pick up her dry cleaning, the shop isn't there. Don goes to investigate and is soon exploring concentric universes and intelligent pig philosophers. If you think in a lateral or literal way, this probably isn't the book for you.

Answer: pancakes

Swedish children's author Astrid Lindgren's "Pippi Longstocking" stories have delighted young readers for decades, since the first in the series was published in 1945 in Sweden. The orphaned, unconventional, resourceful, and decidedly self-expressed nine year old red-headed girl of the title lives her unusual life full out.

Her mother died when she was a baby and her sea captain father has apparently disappeared, fortunately having left her a case of gold coins. She commandeers a big house in a small village, and lives there with her pet monkey.

In the first of many adventure stories, she meets Tommy and Annika, who are to become her best friends. They watch with fascination as Pippi prepares for them a pancake breakfast, which begins to establish her multi-talented and quirky personality. If only your mom had let you cook like she does, you might have developed super strength like her.

Answer: gruel

"Oliver Twist" is Charles Dickens' second novel, about an orphan boy with a very rough life to traverse. Published as a serial between 1837 and 1839, it has achieved iconic status in the canon of English literature, both as a pure adventure and for its now-familiar Dickensian themes highlighting the plight of the poor in the Victorian era. There's no chance the boys in the orphanages/workhouses of the time were getting eggs, bacon or any type of breakfast meat. Gruel, a thin paste of flour or ground grain boiled in milk or water was it for breakfast, and also for lunch and dinner at Oliver's institution. Porridge and oatmeal are synonymous terms for basic oat based breakfast cereal, but the distinction is the consistency. Gruel is more like a soup and might have even been served cold.

"...they contracted with the water-works to lay on an unlimited supply of water, and with a corn factory to supply periodically small amounts of oatmeal, and issued three meals of thin gruel a day, with an onion twice a week, and half a roll on Sundays."

-Charles Dickens
Oliver Twist

Answer: Breakfast with Buddha

Also the author of "Golfing with God", Roland Merullo is a fresh and invigorating addition to the literary scene. He was born in Boston in 1953 and raised in nearby Revere, Massachusetts, a beach community which is home to the first public beach in the United States (founded in 1895). "Breakfast with Buddha" starts with the protagonist, New York food editor Otto Ringling, planning a road trip to North Dakota with his sister Cecilia to deal with a death in the family.

She's a tarot card and palm reader, and he considers her a flake.

Despite his skepticism, she convinces him to make the trip not with her, but with her guru, Volya Rinpoche, an East Indian mystic. Thus begins his spiritual journey.