You Now OWN the Bookstore! Quiz | Mixed Literature

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. You pulled into the parking lot and were happy, awake and ready for another busy day. Just across the street you saw the half-completed new "superstore" they're building - you gulped accordingly. You love your independent store so much but knew that competing with these warehouse places will be difficult (bordering on impossible) but you knew the drill all too well; they'll do it 'bigger' and you'll just do it 'better'. You remembered that just yesterday you saw a copy of the novelization (no more than the movie written down scene-for-scene) of a tale called "Mr. Holland's Opus" in your store - your looming competition over there reminded you of Mr. Holland (perhaps he's you?) and his victory over all things circumstantial as his life progressed. He did pretty well, too! Who wrote the film and is credited with the "novel" of it - "Mr. Holland's Opus"?

Answer: Patrick Sheane Duncan

The best way to get to the answer is to eliminate the two very wrong ones first, those being Caldwell-Moore (who was an esteemed astronomer) and Estes (who was a 'star' of adult films, better known as [ahem] Johnny Holmes). Both Shanley and Duncan are screenwriters but Duncan wrote "Mr. Holland's Opus" - a major success for Richard Dreyfus in the 1995 film.

He played Glenn Holland who had his mind set on being a famous musician, an artiste of the highest degree. In order to pay the bills he was forced to take a job as a high school music teacher, grew to hate the confines of it, did his best in spite of his discontent and managed to change multitudes of young lives and made his own life matter more than he thought possible. Mr. Duncan also wrote the words behind the films "Nick of Time" (starring Johnny Depp in 1995) and "Courage Under Fire" (with Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan in 1996), both of which are available in novelized form. John Patrick Shanley wrote "Moonstruck" in 1987.

2. The morning sales clerk, a delightful woman named Deb, showed up and you entered the store together - you finishing your cigarette and she brushing old man winter off her coat and slacks. She was carrying a bagel, steaming coffee, a huge purse and a dog-eared paperback - you will find that almost all bookstore people have a book with them at all times. That day Deb's book was a romance novel by an author named Diana Gabaldon and you proceed to tease her about her fascination (obsession?) with romance novels. "It's not just a romance. It has a little history, science fiction...AND it was the #17 NY Times Bestseller for Fiction in 2005. So there!" Leave it to Deb to know these things. What was the title of the book she defended so staunchly?

Answer: A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Any jokes made about the Romance genre are both unoriginal and not fair as the section is a massive moneymaker for most bookstores (using myself for an example, in my store they accounted for approximately 65% of total sales which is nothing to sneeze at). Gabaldon was born in 1952 and is best known for her popular "Outlander" series. Lest anyone feel the need to assume upon the background of writers who create these stories (Deb assures you that they're not all frustrated middle-aged poets with hormonal upsets), Ms. Gabaldon received her B.S. in Zoology, M.S. in Marine Biology and her Ph.D. in Ecology.

She started writing in 1990 as, I suspect, a diversion from other more scientific vocations. Note: did you get the little clue about the cigarette and 'old man winter'? It was as close to snow and ashes as I could come up without just blurting it out.

3. A well-dressed woman toting a sleeping baby (smelling so sweetly of talcum and fresh soap) was the first customer, and she was disappointed upon entry that your store didn't serve coffee. You explained that there will be such a service in a matter of weeks (although you weren't exactly telling the truth) but that you'd be glad to fetch her a cup from your office. Your associate jumps in on cue: "While he's getting you the real thing let me show you a book about coffee. My husband's reading it and says it's fantastic". The customer put aside her umbrella, shopping coupons and fresh bread from the bakery next door and had a look at the book. "It's a biographical novel set in Haiti around the 1970s and is a rich, lovingly drawn exploration of life there," Deb the ace salesperson encouraged. What book was she so expertly recommending?

Answer: "An Aroma of Coffee" by Danny Larerriere

All the books were real but not so readily available, I'm afraid. This is why I threw in some subliminal hints - the way the baby smelled (aroma) and the 'putting down' of the umbrella, bread and coupons (suggesting 'no rain, bread or trading'). If that didn't help I suppose a good guess was the only last resort. "An Aroma of Coffee" was published in 1994 and the story is a lovely one indeed, exploring nothing more than the life of an everyday child as he grows up in a small village in Haiti. The fascinating characters (both based on fact and whimsy) tell the tale without much plot necessary in the mix and the reader is energized, as it goes, that life there LOOKS so different than ours but ultimately feels much the same as ours always has; different trappings with very universal human emotions abound - and the aroma of coffee is just the same there (mostly) as it is anywhere else.

4. Mick from the local book distributing company called that day in mid-November 2006 and you like speaking to him. He often got books earlier than other distant places do and can ship them to you in a day or less and with some "hot" new titles those initial few hours saved can mean notable sales and a friendly jump on the competition. He had good news again - an early availability of a new release by a popular author. The fellow had been a favorite to customers for some ten years (in fact, you had sold a copy of "The Wedding" from his 'Calhouns' series just the day before). This new novel titled "Dear John" would sell like hotcakes so you surely ordered a dozen or two. Who is the author you just ordered? And, while you were at it, you ordered a few extra copies of his backlist title "A Walk to Remember", too.

Answer: Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks, born in 1965, writes books that sell quite briskly on their own merit but then they make movies out of them and they literally fly off the shelf. A notable example or two would be "Message In a Bottle" (1998) and the wistful "The Notebook" (1999). "Dear John" sounds like a good read as well - a high school rebel drops out, joins the army and meets the girl of his dreams and a breathless love story ensues. Once his tour of duty is over the two set off on their expected ideal life together UNTIL September 11, 2001 happens and our hero is duty-bound to re-enlist. I'm sure it is clear from the novel's title that our fellow John gets some less-than-happy mail as things develop. Will the curtain fall on this blissful love affair? One never knows until they read the book, of course, but whatever happens one can be certain that Sparks will write a most compelling journey about love (and its complications) in the New Milennium. I should explain 'backlist', too, I suppose.

When a writer has a new title released his or her older books get a surge in popularity with the new one and their backlist becomes abundantly available in tandem with the current title.

5. Your floor manager arrived (his name is Mitchell and, once again, his shirt looked slept in). Despite his always unpolished appearance you like Mitch as he is bright, interesting, quite humorous and never predictable. Some months ago he had returned from a mostly Bohemian-like year in London (he and his pals had no money and just bummed around the city taking it all in with absolutely no plan whatsoever). His knowledge of books is vast and the customers really like him. That day Mitch was talking to a shopper about his travels in England, notably about a friend he made there who was an active member of 'DougSoc'. The customer was mesmerized (and quickly went about ordering all the books he could regarding the author that this 'DougSoc' group pays homage to). You'd never heard of this and decided to listen in. Who is this "society" he was talking about? And, rest assured, he'll have you laughing as he explains it. Mitch is much like a comedic bulldozer when it comes to panoramic descriptions.

Answer: Douglas Adams (Club themes: debaucherie, drunkenness and ceremonious irreverence - and the occasional 'Vogon Poetry Evening')

An interesting bunch of -erm- 'clubs' there but the only one to really exist is the society in honor of Adams. He is the 'Doug' in question. Most know that his "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" (which had a noteworthy bulldozer in it, thus the hint up there) series achieved a cult status that eventually became significantly mainstream and DougSoc is really only loosely attached to his work or his memory.

They do things like "Findy Things" nights or Childhood Regression parties and such. Interestingly the members are Oxford, York and Exeter students for the most part and, ultimately, the organization exists mostly as an excuse to get intoxicated and do role-playing pub crawls (whatever those are). Adams had no business with any of it when he heard about its beginnings in 1990; he referred to the members as "a bunch of wankers" and that was the end of it as far as he was concerned. Adams died in 2001 but, as one might expect, DougSoc thrives still.

6. As you went back to collect your lunch (just a take-out Caesar Salad that day, as luck would have it) a most interesting young lady entered the store, lugging a quite-full back pack and laboring under the weight of some eight textbooks. Her hair was dyed bright green and she had a tattoo of a large beetle on her neck - this is the sort of customer who migrates to the eclectic floor manager instinctively. The girl seemed most bright and was asking for the seventh book in the series about ancient Rome written by Colleen McCullough (and the girl even pointed out that these books were far superior to that author's "The Thornbirds" - which was, of course, debatable and just her summation of the situation). She was correctly told that there are only six books in the "Masters of Rome" series. Given that, our girl decided to make sure she's read them all and looked on the shelf. She might have found all these titles in that series but which one, since it doesn't exist at all?

Answer: Corvinus Dedicates

The books, in order, are "The First Man in Rome", "The Grass Crown", "Fortune's Favorites", "Caesar's Women", "Caesar" and finally "The October Horse". There might have been a book about Corvinus had Colleen continued the series but she had originally decided to end the historical novels at the Battle of Phillipi because that was where, in her opinion, the course of society became immutable and all speculation(s) could stop.

The series is fascinating and decidedly well put together. McCullough includes glossaries, hand-drawn illustrations and her notes supporting her reasons for how this or that event in the story, however historically undocumented, could have logically happened (and probably did).

It is true that NO books by her could have matched "The Thornbirds" in popularity, but (in my opinion) she hasn't written a bad book yet.

It is also next to impossible to compare any of her novels/projects to the one before or after it. They're all quite different.

7. You were dashing back to the office to collect yesterday's receipts to take to the bank and a balding fellow with broken glasses stopped you in your tracks. His voice was unexpectedly firm and deep as he asked, "I understand you have all of Kurt Vonnegut's books here," (He was right, you wouldn't operate a bookstore without them), "and I'm also told there is a particularly good novel that includes a recipe for pineapple-upside-down cake in it by him. May I see it, please?" A lesser man than you would think the curious fellow peculiar to ask such a question but you knew just what he was on about. Could he see that book? Does such a novel with that recipe exist?

Answer: No

The book the customer seeks just HAS to be "Deadeye Dick", a most enjoyable 1982 novel. It does have at least one baked-from-scratch recipe in it but, alas, it has nothing to do with pineapples or cakes. It's a very tasty cornbread recipe (and I can vouch for that since, naturally, I had to try and make it when I saw it in the story - the best cornbread I ever tasted, too). "Deadeye Dick" isn't one of Vonnegut's better known novels.

The "hero" in it is Rudy Waltz who accidentally committed manslaughter as a child and never got over the guilt of it.

The tale involves some neutron bombs, a "neutered" existence, the midwest United States and parental attachments. Somehow or other, too, it makes room for cornbread and is a very delicious read overall. If Mr. Vonnegut is your cup of tea, that is.

8. Your next customer was in search of a book that she'd only heard about until a few nights before when she saw a TV movie based on it which she had found to be most memorable. It was on the 'Lifetime' channel and was titled "The Mermaid Chair". That novel (a masterful story, to be sure) had been popular since its release in 2005 but had received more attention since that film - and you resisted all temptation to discuss with this woman whether the movie had done such a book justice (it was your opinion that almost NO film provided the same magic the book it was based upon did). Sue Monk Kidd wrote the award-winning novel but my question to you is - what, according to the story, is "The Mermaid Chair"?

Answer: It's an archived ornate chair with detailed carvings, both religiously symbolic and romantic.

In the story, the chair is a real chair that sits in the abbey of a Benedictine monastery. Legend has it the carvings on it were made by a mermaid who later became a saint. The lore of the chair becomes the force of the heroine of the tale (Jessie) and her own life's adventure as she is summoned to her childhood home, an island off of South Carolina, to attend to her suddenly troubled mother.

As she leaves her husband behind and 'returns to the ocean' she embarks on a private journey that is revealing, introspective, entirely spiritual and almost as mythic as the chair itself.

She finds herself becoming more than just intrigued with a Benedictine monk on the island named Brother Thomas and he, combined with the investigation(s) surrounding the parallels of her mother's life/possible madness and her own, the re-evaluation of her marriage and her life as it was so far from where she started, the passions of the spirit in conflict with the ecstasies of the body all make for a rich description of the life of a woman.

A woman of spirit. A mysterious symbol of life and powerful imaginations - in fact, a mermaid of sorts. It's a well-written piece of work (the descriptions of the locals and where they live are simply breathtaking by themselves). Kim Basinger played the character in the TV film and, from what I've heard, the depiction of the novel was as good as it could be given the major parts of the story that weren't tangible and could not be filmed. It became more the story of forbidden love and little more than that - but the words as written told a much larger tale than just that part of things. It's a very engrossing and thought provoking project.

9. Your day neared completion, all that was left to do was file away the day's paperwork, post the new work schedule and call the local college about getting some part-time help from their student body as the holiday season is so near. The UPS delivery man arrived just then (his name is Stu and he's a very nice chap who seemed a little spaced-out that day, which he explained was the result of double shipments on his truck and a temporary staff shortage at the warehouse). In front of him was his omnipresent 'two-wheeler', stacked with a shipment of books bearing the prominent "Tor" logo on the boxes. As you signed for the shipment you were relieved that you'd be on your way home since receiving/shelving these types of books was not your favorite passage of time (and not your favorite genre of stock to find room for, either). What kinds of novels or other publications does Tor Books predominately publish?

Answer: Science Fiction/Fantasy books

Tor is part of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (who also own Forge and Orb Books). Their author list is actually quite impressive, including the likes of Orson Scott Card, Charles de Lint, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, Spider Robinson and many others. Tor pulled off a major coup in 2006 by acquiring the rights to the last two installments of the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert (1920-1986), the outlines for which had been locked away for over a decade.

The two final novels - "Hunters of Dune" and "Sandworms of Dune" - will finally lay to rest any dangling questions in place when Herbert passed away. To explain, too: Sci Fi is a wickedly hard section of a bookstore to maintain well.

There are series, stand-alone novels, writers with various pen names - it is indeed maddening (and there is always one staffer who knows just what's what - and he or she is VERY popular, make no mistake).

The books are just fine; organizing them is a headache on top of the headache before it.

10. Your day was over, time to go home. As you jump into your car you catch a glimpse of that huge and daunting bookstore being built across the way. The competition grew bigger daily...but what to do? So you smiled proudly as you glanced at YOUR store. Such a tiny building but such a paradise! And it was yours and you liked sharing it. A quote filtered through your mind as you drove home a happy human: "Success: to laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!" Which author said/wrote that?

Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) was a well-known author, poet, philosopher and orator in his day. He was a "preacher's son" but grew away from the strict doctrines of his early life (that his father referred to him, at just 2 years old, as a 'rather dull scholar' set the map for a less-than-satisfactory childhood) and by his mid-teens was busy being quite scholarly at Harvard. In 1836 he assembled a group of intellectuals and formed 'The Transcendental Club', themed by an overriding distress at the general state of American culture and, more urgently, the pervasive "intellectualism" at Harvard and in the Unitarian Church. Emerson is perhaps best known for his essay "Self-Reliance" in 1841, written to inspire its audience to trust the present thoughts and impressions one has to guide them rather than those of others or of one's formal self. He was a wise man and had a large following of folks supportive of his rather progressive ideas.

And you travel onward to your home and wave to the little bookstore (yours) and that other unknown pile of bricks that might complicate your life someday (theirs) you happily know this: your day was a success, you made a difference. That other store? It's not even really there yet and all it was making so far was noise ~ and nobody was listening. It was, all said and done, a very good day at the bookstore.

Source: Author Gatsby722

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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You Now OWN the Bookstore! Trivia Quiz

What a journey it has been! Just a few years ago a sales clerk, then a manager, then (after college and a few bucks) you bought the bookstore! Alas, though, bigger job but similar questions await you...

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