Tuesday Trivia

1. What was George Eliot's real name? 
2. Which young adult author is the grandmother of controversial musician Courtney Love? 
3. Where does the “Hey Diddle Diddle” nursery rhyme come from? 
4. Which U.S. President was a Finalist for the National Book Award? 

Last Week's Answers 

Which author was married on April 1, 1993 — a deliberate play on her husband’s belief that only fools get married in the first place? 

Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries. 

What is the title of Shakespeare’s lost play? 

The play Cardenio that has been credited to the Bard and which was performed in his life, has been completely lost to time. Today we have no written record of its story whatsoever. 

What English literary classic was inspired by the adventures of Scottish pirate Andrew Selkirk? 

Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe wrote the tale after hearing the story of Selkirk's four and a half years on uninhabited Juan Fernandez Island off the coast of Chile. 

Which word was accidentally omitted from a 1631 publication of the Bible, therefore encouraging readers to commit adultery?

In 1631, a printer accidentally omitted the word "Not" from the seventh commandment, encouraging readers to commit adultery.

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which author was married on April 1, 1993 — a deliberate play on her husband’s belief that only fools get married in the first place? 
2. What is the title of Shakespeare’s lost play? 
3. What English literary classic was inspired by the adventures of Scottish pirate Andrew Selkirk? 
4. Which word was accidentally omitted from a 1631 publication of the Bible, therefore encouraging readers to commit adultery? 

Last Week's Answers 

What was the occupation of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series of mysteries? 

The man responsible for writing the famous Sherlock Holmes mysteries was actually an eye doctor. Because this occupation didn’t pay enough for him to make a decent living, he wrote in his spare time to supplement his income. 

What do Laura Ingalls Wilder, Kenneth Grahame, Richard Adams, The Marquis de Sade, and Raymond Chandler have in common? 

Each was approaching or over fifty years old before his or her first major work was published. Laura Ingalls Wilder did not publish her first novel in the Little House series of children’s books until her sixties; Kenneth Grahame did not publish until his retirement in 1908 (age 49); Richard Adams’s first novel, the bestseller, Watership Down, was published when he was in his fifties; The Marquis de Sade published his first novel, Justine, after turning 51; Raymond Chandler published his first short story at 45 and his first novel, The Big Sleep at 51. 

When was the first novel written? 

The first novel ever written contains 54 chapters and is titled The Tale of Genji. It was written in the beginning of the 11th century by Murasaki Shibuku, a Japanese noblewoman. 

What does Jane Smiley say she would be doing if she were not a writer? 

She would choose to raise horses.

Tuesday Trivia

1. What was the occupation of author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes series of mysteries? 
2. What do Laura Ingalls Wilder, Kenneth Grahame, Richard Adams, The Marquis de Sade, and Raymond Chandler have in common? 
3. When was the first novel written? 
4. What does Jane Smiley say she would be doing if she were not a writer? 

Last Week's Answers 

Which American short story writer and poet continually called the name “Reynolds!” the night before his death? 

Edgar Allan Poe shouted this name, although no one knows to whom they dying man was calling. 

How did Voltaire rid himself of tiresome guests? 

Voltaire got rid of boring guests by pretending to faint. 

The average person uses a vocabulary of approximately 8,000 words. How many did Shakespeare use? 

William Shakespeare used a vocabulary of 29,066 different words. 

What first name did Arthur Conan Doyle give to his famous detective before he came up with Sherlock? 

Sherringford. The name was used in a short story Doyle wrote in 1886. Holmes's sidekick in the story was called Ormond Sacker — soon to be renamed Thomas Watson. 

What famous writer claimed she did most of the plotting for her books while sitting in a bathtub munching on apples? 

Agatha Christie

Tuesday Trivia

1. Which American short story writer and poet continually called the name “Reynolds!” the night before his death?
2. How did Voltaire rid himself of tiresome guests?
3. The average person uses a vocabulary of approximately 8,000 words. How many did Shakespeare use?
4. What first name did Arthur Conan Doyle give to his famous detective before he came up with Sherlock?
5. What famous writer claimed she did most of the plotting for her books while sitting in a bathtub munching on apples?

Last Week's Answers

What French novelist inadvertently provided actress Ruth Davis with her stage name, Bette Davis?

Honore de Balzac. Davis took her stage name from the title of his 1840 novel Cousin Bette.


Which piece of American literature containing over 50,000 words does not once use the letter “e”?

American author, Ernest Vincent Wright wrote Gadsby: A Champion of Youth, which, except for the introduction and a note at the end, does not use the letter “e.” Every word is properly spelled and all narration is grammatically correct. He actually taped down the letter “e” on his typewriter to avoid accidentally using it.

The high-speed ferry between Dublin and Great Britain, across the Irish Sea, is named after which 18th-century satirist?

Jonathan Swift.


Which author once ate an apple under the Arch de Triomphe to try to overcome his insomnia?


Alexander Dumas


What book was once banned by the Eldon, Missouri library because it contained 39 "objectionable" words?

The American Heritage Dictionary.

Tuesday Trivia

1. What French novelist inadvertently provided actress Ruth Davis with her stage name, Bette Davis?
2. Which piece of American literature containing over 50,000 words does not once use the letter “e”?
3. The high-speed ferry between Dublin and Great Britain, across the Irish Sea, is named after which 18th-century satirist?
4. Which author once ate an apple under the Arch de Triomphe to try to overcome his insomnia?
5. What book was once banned by the Eldon, Missouri library because it contained 39 "objectionable" words?

Last Week's Answers

Who is the most successful textbook author of all time?

Elements, by Euclid, was written circa 300 B.C. and has gone through more than 1,000 editions since the invention of printing.

J.K. Rowling’s short story, “The Tale of Three Brothers” is based on which famous tale?

“The Pardoner’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer in Canterbury Tales.


Which famous writer was buried in the Fluntern Cemetery, Zurich, Switzerland, and is so close to the Zurich Zoo that the zoo's lions can be heard from his grave?


James Joyce was buried here and shares his plot with wife Nora and son Georgio.


What best-selling author opened the first Saab auto dealership in the United States?

Kurt Vonnegut.


Where does the phrase “often a bridesmaid, never a bride” come from?

The phrase "Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride," actually originates from an advertisement for Listerine mouthwash from 1924.