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About This Quiz
Are you well read? Then see if you can get your thinking cap on and speed-read your way through this quiz. Stories have captured the imaginations of people around the world for millennia, and many people to this day are fiercely protective of and very much love their books. Great stories contain dazzling highs, dizzying lows and everything in between.
So much can be done with words, and some of the greatest literary minds have been pushing the bounds of imagination for centuries. From romance to war epics to sci-fi innovators, it all began with books. From religious texts to folk tales to fiction, books have changed everything about how we view the world, one another, and what is possible.
From Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde to J.K. Rowling, numerous writers have left their mark on the world throughout the years. We identify with and learn from fictional characters. In fact, studies have shown that reading improves memory, relieves stress, and can even help build empathy. Aside from that old book smell, there is a lot of enjoyment and many benefits to be found from cracking open a book or even just opening up one on your Kindle. If you think you know your famous authors, then get your spectacles on and get literate with this quiz!
Who wrote "The Tell-Tale Heart"?
Anne Rice
Octavia Butler
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Edgar Allan Poe
American horror pioneer and inventor of the detective story Edgar Allan Poe wrote this iconic short story, which was initially published in 1843. It centers around a murderous protagonist desperate to prove his sanity.
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The author of "The Divine Comedy" is:
William Shakespeare
Stephen King
Dante Alighieri
This 14th-century poetic work has inspired numerous works of art over the years. In it, Dante travels through the afterlife guided by the poet Virgil.
Bram Stoker
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Who wrote "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"?
J. K. Rowling
Published first in 1998, this is the second in Rowling's world-famous Harry Potter series. At the time of its release in 2002, the film adaptation of this book was one of the highest-grossing films ever made.
William Shakespeare
Chinua Achebe
John Steinbeck
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"Moby Dick" was written by_________.
Leo Tolstoy
Jean-Paul Sartre
Oscar Wilde
Herman Melville
This 19th-century novel is widely considered to be one of the best works of American literature. It tells the tale of Captain Ahab, who is consumed by his pursuit of the white whale Moby Dick.
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Who is the author of "The Catcher in the Rye"?
J.D. Salinger
This 20th-century American novel was originally written for adults but has become common reading in high school English classes across America. It follows teenage protagonist and narrator Holden Caulfield as he plays hooky in New York City.
Jonathan Swift
Sylvia Plath
Rabindranath Tagore
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Who wrote "Pride and Prejudice"?
Octavia Butler
J. R. R. Tolkien
Salman Rushdie
Jane Austen
This 19th-century novel is a classic novel of manners. With over 20 million copies sold, it is one of the most popular English literary works ever written.
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Who wrote "Beloved"?
Toni Morrison
Published in 1987, this magical realism novel tells the story of an escaped slave. It takes place after the Civil War.
Lord Byron
Mary Shelley
Ayn Rand
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The author of "Post Office" is:
Napoleon Bonaparte
Thomas Paine
Charles Bukowski
Published in 1971, this novel is the first written by Charles Bukowski. This autobiographical novel covers Bukowski's years working for the United States Postal Service with his signature cynical flair.
Truman Capote
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Who wrote "Don Quixote"?
Marcel Proust
J. R. R. Tolkien
Miguel de Cervantes
"Don Quixote" is a 17th-century Spanish novel. It follows the adventures of a mentally ill nobleman out to single-handedly revive the age of knights and chivalry.
Stephen King
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"Atlas Shrugged" was written by:
Ayn Rand
This 1957 philosophical fiction novel was Ayn Rand's last book. It features a dystopian America in which businesses suffer because of laws and regulations.
George Orwell
Victor Hugo
Leo Tolstoy
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The author of "Interview with the Vampire" is _________.
Anne Rice
This 20th-century gothic horror novel was author Anne Rice's first novel. It is the first of a series of popular novels called "The Vampire Chronicles."
Albert Camus
C. S. Lewis
Sylvia Plath
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"Ulysses" was written by:
Homer
James Joyce
"Ulysses" is a 20th-century English modernist novel which parallels "The Odyssey." It follows one man over the course of a normal day in Dublin, Ireland.
Anne Rice
Anthony Burgess
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The author of "Christine" is:
R. K. Narayan
Oscar Wilde
Stephen King
Stephen King is one of the most famous and prolific horror novelists of all time. In his well-known novel "Christine," a nerdy young man encounters a possessed car.
Truman Capote
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Who wrote "Hamlet"?
J. K. Rowling
Toni Morrison
William Shakespeare
"Hamlet" was written between 1599 and 1601. This tragedy is one of the most famous and often performed plays of all time.
Mark Twain
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The author of "Lord of the Rings" is _____________.
Sylvia Plath
J. R. R. Tolkien
Scholar and author J. R. R. Tolkien wrote these epic high fantasy novels throughout the 1930s and 1940s. With over 150 million copies sold, they are some of the best selling books ever written.
Margaret Atwood
Junot Diaz
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The author of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is who?
Mark Twain
This 19th-century novel is considered to be one of the Great American Novels. It follows the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a poor child from St. Petersburg, Missouri.
James Joyce
Mary Shelley
Loe Tolstoy
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Who wrote "The Stranger"?
Geoffrey Chaucer
Albert Camus
Albert Camus wrote this 20th-century French philosophical novel. It follows a seemingly apathetic man who commits a murder after his mother's death.
Chinua Achebe
Anne Rice
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The author of "The Handmaid's Tale" is:
Suzanne Collins
Rupi Kaur
E. L. James
Margaret Atwood
This novel was published in 1985. It follows the journey of a woman living in an America overthrown by an oppressive Christian dictatorship in which biblical law is interpreted as civil law.
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_____________ wrote "The Great Gatsby."
Giacomo Casanova
F. Scott Fitzgerald
This 20th-century American novel defined and encapsulated the excess and emptiness of the Jazz Age. The book is considered to be a warning about and critique of the American Dream.
Homer
R. L. Stein
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Who is the author of "One Hundred Years of Solitude"?
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
This 20th-century Colombian novel is a Nobel Prize winner. It uses magical realism to tell the intergenerational story of the Buendia family.
Marquis de Sade
Victor Hugo
Mario Puzo
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__________ wrote "The Bell Jar."
W. E. B. du Bois
Gillian Anderson
Virgil
Sylvia Plath
"The Bell Jar" is a 20th-century semi-autobiographical novel by American poet Sylvia Plath. The novel follows the protagonist's descent into mental illness and is thought to mirror Plath's own experiences, as she committed suicide shortly after the book was published.
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Who wrote "The Odyssey"?
Thornton Wilder
William Shakespeare
Lord Byron
Homer
Many scholars think this book was written in the 8th century BC. It is the second oldest work of western literature following the "Illiad."
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"Crime and Punishment" was written by:
Fyodor Dostoyevsky
This 19th-century Russian novel was written by Dostoyevsky following 5 years of exile in Siberia. It explores a poor ex-student's "morally justifiable" killing gone wrong.
Gustave Flaubert
Edgar Allan Poe
Junot Diaz
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The author of "Twilight" is:
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer's young adult supernatural romance series "Twilight" has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and been translated into over 30 languages. In it, an everyday teen girl falls in love with a vampire.
Oscar Wilde
Franz Kafka
Sophocles
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Who wrote "The Home and the World"?
J. K. Rowling
George Eliot
Rabindranath Tagore
In this 20th-century Bengali novel, a woman is torn between her husband and the demands of a radical leader. It takes place in India.
Stephenie Meyer
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The author of "Lolita" is:
George Orwell
Emily Bronte
Confucius
Vladimir Nabokov
This 20th-century English novel is famous for its controversial subject. In it, protagonist and narrator Humbert Humbert develops a tragic obsession with his step-daughter.
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Who is the author of "The Count of Monte Cristo"?
Cao Xueqin
Alexandre Dumas
Dumas' 19th-century novel was a huge hit when it was published and has stood the test of time. This tale of revenge was inspired by a real case of wrongful imprisonment.
Lewis Carroll
Victor Hugo
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"1984" was written by ________.
Solomon Northup
George Orwell
In this 20th-century English novel, a terrifying totalitarian government crushes its own people while maintaining endless wars. It follows a bland civil servant's uncharacteristic acts of resistance and their consequences.
Sui Sin Far
Mark Twain
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Who wrote "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"?
Lewis Carroll
This 19th-century novel was written by Oxford mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It is one of the most influential fantasy works ever written.
Virginia Woolf
Onoto Watanna
Giacomo Casanova
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"To the Lighthouse" was authored by:
Charles Dickens
Jean-Paul Sartre
Virginia Woolf
This 20th-century modernist novel contains almost no dialogue or action, and mostly follows trains of thought. It is widely considered to be one of the best modern English language novels.
Leo Tolstoy
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Who wrote "Heart of Darkness"?
Mary Shelley
Edgar Allan Poe
Joseph Conrad
This novella is considered a critique of European attitudes regarding imperialism and colonialism. The novel's narrator and protagonist talks about a life-changing Congo River voyage he took.
Miguel Angel Asturias
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"The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" is by:
Junot Diaz
Dominican American author Junot Diaz wrote this award-winning multigenerational novel about a Dominican family which has been plagued by a curse for generations. It was published in 2007.
Danielle Steele
Karl Marx
Joseph Heller
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"Fifty Shades of Grey" was written by ____________.
William Shakespeare
E.L. James
This erotic romance novel was published in 2011. It began as "Twilight" fan fiction.
Rupi Kaur
James Joyce
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Who wrote "Kindred?"
William Shakespeare
Virginia Woolf
Dan Brown
Octavia Butler
This time-travel and slave narrative novel was published in 1979. It is a popular book read in high school and college courses.
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The author of "Dune" is:
Ayn Rand
Truman Capote
Frank Herbert
This 20th-century epic is the best selling sci-fi novel in the world. It deals with politics of an interstellar futuristic feudal society obsessed with "the spice."
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
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You Got:
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