Michael Crichton Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Lange

Michael Crichton's first work of fiction was 'Odds on' (1966). He wrote this novel under the pen-name of John Lange. Crichton also used the pen name of Jeffrey Hudson. Both these pseudonyms were based on his height. 'Lange' is a German term meaning tall and Jeffrey Hudson was a dwarf, who was a courtier in 17th century England. Crichton also wrote a book 'Dealing: Or the
Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues' along with his brother Douglas Crichton. The pseudonym used for this book was a mixture of both their names - Michael Douglas.
Michael Crichton is 6ft 9in tall (2.06m).

Answer: ER

'ER' was a popular, Emmy award winning television series with which Crichton was associated. He was a producer for the series and wrote the first three episodes for the series.

Answer: The First Great Train Robbery

'The First Great Train Robbery' was a film released in 1979 that was based on Crichton's novel 'The Great Train Robbery'. The movie was directed by Crichton himself and starred Sean Connery as the suave master criminal Edward Pierce.
'Jurassic Park III' was a sequel to 'Jurassic Park', but the movie was not based on any novel of Crichton.

Answer: True

Michael Crichton catapulted to fame after the success of the 'Jurassic Park' novel and movie series. In recognition of his work, a dinosaur (ankylosaur), whose fossils were discovered in 2002 was named Crichtonsaurus bohlini after Michael Crichton. (Bohlini was a Swedish paleontologist). A second dinosaur Crichtonsaurus benxiensis was named in 2007.

Answer: Use of references to documents/texts that don't exist

False document is a literary technique, wherein there are many references made to documents, texts, scientific papers, etc - none of which exist. For instance, 'The Andromeda Strain' referred to an 'Odd man hypothesis' and quotes certain documents. But there is no such hypothesis in reality. Similarly, 'Eaters of the Dead' is based on a manuscript by Ibn Fadlan, but again no such document exists. Crichton uses footnotes and references extensively to make it appear that the documents mentioned are real.

Answer: State of Fear

'State of Fear' is a novel by Michael Crichton about global warming and environment. The novel centers around a plot by a group of eco-terrorists, who plan to create a series of terror attacks to highlight the dangers of global warming. In this novel, Crichton uses a number of studies to present the fact that the ill-effects of global warming are not as dangerous as it is believed.

This novel received bouquets (an award from petroleum geologists association) and brickbats (a rap in a senate hearing from Hillary Clinton).

Answer: Jasper Johns

'Jasper Johns' is a work of non-fiction by Michael Crichton. The book is a coffee-table work containing the works of the American artist Jasper Johns, who was a personal friend of Crichton. Other non-fiction works of Crichton include 'Electronic Life', 'Travels' and 'Five Patients'.

Answer: Robin Cook

'Coma' is a famous novel by Robin Cook. A movie on this novel was made in 1978 by MGM and Michael Crichton directed the film. 'Coma' is medical thriller which has 'organ theft' as its main theme. Incidentally Crichton's novel 'Next' had one plot about organ theft.

Answer: False

Michael Crichton was a medical doctor by education. He obtained his M.D qualification from Harvard Medical College. He also held a postgraduate fellowship at the Jonas Salk Institute. Many of his books are based on medical related themes (such as 'The Terminal Man' and 'A Case of Need').

Answer: Next

Michael Crichton died in Los Angeles on November 4, 2008 at the age of 66. He was suffering from cancer. The last book written by Crichton, that was released before his death was 'Next'. This novel, released in 2006, is based on Crichton's favourite theme of genetics.

The novel is a complexly constructed one with a number of sub-plots all related to the main plot. Crichton was working on a novel prior to his death. It is believed that the novel would be released in March 2009.