Literary Sport - Alphabet Trivia Solution

Those who played the Alphabet Challenge did amazingly well with these questions. . .I must have made them too easy *cheeky grin*

Fifty percent of the players got all 10 answers; 33% got 9 of the questions correct and 17% got 8 correct.  You kids are smmmaart!

Next Literary Sport will be up tomorrow - the person with the most points at the end of the month will receive a $10 gift card to Amazon or Book Depository ~ winner's choice.

The Answers:

1. Stephen King seems to create a lot of titles that begin with the letter "C." Which of the following books is NOT written by King?  

Charly

Charly was the movie made from Daniel Keye’s Flowers for Algernon.  As for the King books, they’re about an evil car, a rabid dog and the worst prom date ever.

2.  Kathy Reichs created the character Temperance "Bones" Brennan, a forensic anthropologist who solves crimes in a series of at least twelve books and has had a television series ("Bones") created for her. Which was the first book in this series?

Deja Dead

"Deadly Desire" was the cheesiest title I could come up with, and it turns out there was a TV movie by that name in 1991. "Double, Double" is a mystery by Ellery Queen and "Deliverance" is the novel by James Dickey that was made into the 'squeal like a pig' movie. You know the one.

3.  The award for best mysteries of the year is named after the author widely credited with creating the mystery story. What is this award given by the Mystery Writers of America?

Edgar

James Ellroy is the author of, among others, "LA Confidential" and "The Black Dahlia". Ellery Queen (pseudonym for Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee) was the author of many mystery novels and the editor of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. And Mignon Eberhart was, at one time, known as "The American Agatha Christie". Edgar, of course, is Poe, who created the detective C. Auguste Dupin, star of the stories "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Purloined Letter" and "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt".

4.  In Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", which one of these characters was the last to possess the One Ring?

Gollum

Galadriel the Elf, Gimli the Dwarf, Gandalf the wizard--none of them were there at the Cracks of Doom with the hobbits. Gollum was there, bit off Frodo's finger (ring still on there) and fell into the fire. Thus, he was the last possessor of the One Ring.

5.   C.S. Forester created this character who starred in eleven books about the British Navy during Napoleonic times. 

Horatio Hornblower

Honor Harrington is a creation of David Weber. Harry Harrison is the author of many science fiction novels (including "Deathworld" and "The Stainless Steel Rat"). Henry Huggins starred in a children's book of the same name by Beverly Cleary. Hornblower begins his fictional life as a midshipman, and then moves up the advancement ladder to eventually become Admiral of the Fleet.

6.  This author, who served in World War II and was wounded on Guadalcanal, wrote "From Here to Eternity" and "The Thin Red Line".

James Jones

John Jakes writes historical fiction ("The Bastard", "The Rebels") and fantasy ("Brak the Barbarian"). James Joyce was an Irish author best known for "Ulysses" and "Finnegans Wake". Joseph Jacobs was a Jewish historian who also edited five collections of world fairy tales. James Jones died in 1977 and is buried in Bridgehampton, New York.

7.  When this author died in 1988, he or she had 105 books in print and was one of the most popular writers in the world. Which author is it?

Louis L'Amour

Linda Lovelace, adult film actress, wrote an autobiography in 1980, Lois Lowry won the the Newbery Award twice for her children's fiction, and Larry Linville played Frank Burns on "M*A*S*H". As far as I know, he never wrote anything. Louis L'Amour sold over 225 million copies of his books.

8.  "The Thorn Birds" is a 1977 classic romance novel, telling a story of forbidden love in Australia. It was later made into an extremely high-rated miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. What is the last name of the author who wrote the book?

McCollough

Carson McCullers wrote "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter". Frank McCourt wrote "Angela's Ashes". McGruff is, of course, the Crime Dog. Colleen McCullough is an Australian writer whose mother was partly of Maori descent, and she was given a Doctorate of Letters from Macquarie University.

9.  A comic novel by Charles Dickens (his third novel), this 1839 serial contains the wonderfully-named character Wackford Squeers.

Nicholas Nickelby

"Nevermore" is a book by William Hjortsberg (and also the only word Poe's raven speaks), "Nostromo" is a work by Joseph Conrad, and "No, No, Nanette" is a musical comedy of the 1920s featuring the song "Tea for Two".

10.  This Christian allegory by John Bunyan was published in 1678.

Pilgrim's Progress

"Paradise Lost" is an epic poem by John Milton, "The Pickwick Papers" is a book by Charles Dickens, and "Pudd'nhead Wilson" is a story by Mark Twain.

Thanks for playing a Literary Sport!