Well Read
1 Who wrote the play Boys from the Black Stuff?
2 In which century was the Domesday Book commissioned?
3 Who created Mike Hammer?
4 Which helicopter had friends called Chuck, Lionel and Pippa?
5 What links Happy, Tickle, Muddle, Noisy, Lazy, Grumpy and Uppity?
6 What is the seven letter name of Sherlock Holmes older brother?
7 Which vessel was skippered by Captain Nemo?
8 Which creation of Len Deighton was played on film by Michael Caine?
9 How are George, J and Harris collectively known?
10 Little Nell is the heroine of which Dickens novel?
11 Who created the literary sleuth Father Brown?
12 According to Beatrix Potter, “Once upon a time there were four little rabbits”. What are their names?
13 Who penned the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Angela’s Ashes?
14 Which Shakespeare play opens with the line, “Now is the winter of our discontent”?
15 Who first wrote “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”?
16 What name is given to a sentence that contains every single letter of the alphabet?
17 In 1958 who turned down the Nobel Prize for Literature?
18 Which nursery rhyme would one associate with a male donkey and a female ferret?
19 Which Shakespeare character said, “If you prick us do we not bleed”?
20 Which writer created the character of Inspector Jane Tennison?
21 Who penned the acclaimed series of monologues Talking Heads?
22 Which expression for a devoted couple derived from a 1735 poem?
23 Which is the first book of the Bible that is named after a man?
24 Who wrote the autobiography, Its Hello from Him?
25 In grammatical terms what can be demonstrative, personal, possessive and reflex?
26 Which Prime Minister wrote the book The Downing Street Years?
27 In 2000 which pop star and actor penned the autobiography True?
28 Which book explains and illustrates The Leap of the Hare and Chasing the Sparrow?
29 Which adventure novel features the characters of Twala and Gagool?
30 Whose father is called Bungo and mother Belladonna?
31 Which was the first magazine to publish a hologram on the front cover?
32 Which nursery rhyme was inspired by a 16th century pirate who managed to evade capture?
33 What type of animal is Akela in The Jungle Book?
34 Which actress wrote about her problems with dyslexia in Susan’s Story?
35 Which religions bible includes the books Jacob, Enos and Jarom?
36 For what genre of novels is the Betty Trask Award presented?
37 Which classic novel features the character of Catherine Earnshaw?
38 To date (2006) authors from which country have won the most Nobel Prizes for Literature?
39 Who was the first person to be buried at Poet’s Corner?
40 Which play by TS Eliot chronicled the
assassination of Thomas Becket?
Answers
1 Alan Bleasdale
2 11th century
3 Mickey Spillane
4 Budgie the Helicopter
5 All the names of Mr Men
6 Mycroft
7 Nautilus
8 Harry Palmer
9 Three Men in a Boat
10 The Old Curiosity Shop
11 GK Chesterton
12 Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter
13 Frank McCourt
14 Richard III
15 Alfred Lord Tennyson
16 Pangram
17 Boris Pasternak
18 Jack and Jill
19 Shylock
20 Lynda la Plante
21 Alan Bennett
22 Darby and Joan
23 Joshua
24 Ronnie Barker
25 Pronouns
26 Margaret Thatcher
27 Martin Kemp
28 Kama Sutra
29 King Solomon’s Mines
30 Bilbo Baggins
31 The National Geographic
32 Jack be nimble
33 Wolf
34 Susan Hampshire
35 Mormon
36 Romantic novels
37 Wuthering Heights
38 France
39 Geoffrey Chaucer
40 Murder in the Cathedral