Who Wrote the Book First? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alice Walker

"The Color Purple" was published in 1982. This book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982. It follows Celie, a very poor African American young woman as she deals with all of the trials and tribulations that come her way. This novel was made into a movie in 1985.

It was directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was both a critical and a theatrical success. It grossed $142 million after a budget of $15 million to make it. It was also nominated for eleven Academy Awards, but it did not win one. At the time, this set the Academy Award record for the film with the most nominations without a win.

Answer: L. Frank Baum

"The Wizard of Oz" novel was published in 1900 by L. Frank Baum and made into a movie in 1939. I think most people will recognize the story of Dorothy and her dog Toto as they travel to the Wonderful World of Oz. They meet the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion along the way.

They help Dorothy find the Wizard of Oz when they follow the Yellow Brick Road. He helps her companions get what they most want in life, and Dorothy realizes that "there's no place like home".

Answer: Kazuo Ishiguro

Kazuo Ishiguro published this novel in 1989. The work won the Booker Prize for Fiction that year. It was made into a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in 1993. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards. The story follows a man who has been acting as a butler for a man who has recently passed away.

He takes a journey to ask a former colleague to return to his place of employment to act as housekeeper. During his road trip to her, he reflects on his life and his past attraction to the former housekeeper.

Although they did not act on the attraction in the past, he feels that the attraction was mutual. When he reaches his now-married former colleague, she refuses to go with him because she is willing to settle for a relatively unhappy marriage.

Answer: Jane Austen

Jane Austen published "Sense and Sensibility" anonymously in 1811. It is the story of three sisters and their mother who are forced away from their home when their father passes away and the home is passed to their older step-brother. They move to a more modest home and the story goes on to tell how they manage to find friendships and romance in their new, more impoverished circumstances.

The book has been adapted for television a number of times over the years, and was made into a theatrical movie in 1995. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay, and stars as one of the sisters in the story.

Answer: Winston Groom

Winston Groom wrote "Forrest Gump" in 1986. It is the story of a young man with a relatively low IQ and his adventures growing up and as he tries to make his way in the world. An Academy Award winning movie of the same title was released in 1994. It has many of the same adventures in it, but the movie does not include much of the profanity that appears in the book.

It also left out a few of the adventures that are in the book. When it first came out, the book sold about 10,000 copies. However, sales jumped to over one million copies of the book after the release of the movie.

The book was not terribly well-received by critics, but the movie is considered a success. It made over $600 million at the box office, and Empire Magazine named Forrest as the 27th greatest movie character of all time.

Answer: Boris Pasternak

Boris Pasternak published "Doctor Zhivago" in 1957. The book is set in Russia between 1902 and WWII. It is an epic that follows multiple characters through their lives, relationships, and struggles during the political upheaval in Russia during the early part of the 20th century.

It was refused publication in Russia because Pasternak rejected the prevailing political idealism in Russia in the mid-1950s. A copy of the novel was smuggled out of Russia to Italy where it was published in 1957. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 for "Doctor Zhivago".

A movie that tells this story was made in 1965 starring Omar Sharif. Given that the book was banned in the Soviet Union, filming took place in Spain. Because of the epic nature of the story, the original movie was over three hours long.

The film was very well-received, including five Academy Awards.

Answer: William Goldman

"The Princess Bride" was written by William Goldman in 1973. It is a delightful combination of a romance-adventure-fantasy that is sure to please just about any reader. The story follows a young woman and her love Wesley as they try to get away from the dastardly prince to whom she is betrothed. Assisting them are two companions - Inigo Montoya, a skilled swordsman, and Fezzik, a giant. Rob Reiner directed the movie in 1987.

The movie closely follows the story in the book, but perhaps that is because William Goldman wrote the screenplay for the movie. Goldman's screenplay was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 84th best screenplay of all time in 2006 and again in 2013.

The movie sits at #88 of The American Film Institute (AFI) list "AFI's 100 Years... 100 Passions" that lists their 100 greatest love stories of all time that have made it to film.

Answer: Kevin Kwan

"Crazy Rich Asians" was published by Kevin Kwan in 2013. It follows five main Asian characters who are quite wealthy as they navigate their families and their romances and prepare for what is expected to be the wedding of the year. The novel was very well received by critics and members of the public.

This reception prompted Kevin Kwan to write two further books to create a trilogy about the characters that he created. The film of the same title was released n 2018. It also follows a group of young Asians through a variety of situations in their romantic and family lives.

The movie was very well received and made $238 million on a budget of $30 million. "Crazy Rich Asians" was the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the 2010s.

Answer: Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy wrote "No Country for Old Men" in 2005. He originally wrote the book as a screenplay, but released it as a novel about three main characters near the Mexico-US border after one of the characters happens upon a drug deal that has gone bad.

He takes the $2.4 million that he finds at the scene. That sets in motion a story that has him and his family threatened while the local lawmen try to protect them. The book was adapted into a film by the Coen brothers in 2007. The movie was very successful, including four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay (Joel and Ethan Coen), and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh).

Answer: Emma Donoghue

The 2010 novel "Room" by author Emma Donoghue tells the story of a young woman named Joy who was kidnapped at the age of 19. She is held captive in a shed where she is raped by her captor on a regular basis. She has a child named Jack as a result of one of the rapes.

He is five years old and has lived his entire life in the locked shed, or room. They plan their successful escape, but the book dives deeper after they are freed by examining what it must be like for the two to experience things after having been confined to a single room for so long.

In 2015, the film "Room" hit theatres. It was also written by Emma Donoghue, so the story stays very close to the original novel. The book was short-listed for a number of awards, and won the 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional prize (Caribbean and Canada).

The film was nominated for four Academy Awards, and Brie Larson who played Joy won the Academy Award for Best Actress.