Friday, July 30, 2010

Trivial Pursuit for Book-Lovers

Children's: What poem from Through The Looking Glass inspires Alice's remark "It seems very pretty, but it's rather hard to understand"?

Classics: What 1826 frontier tale ends by noting: "The pale faces are masters of the earth"?

Non-Fiction: What writer shrewdly timed his travel tome In a Sunburned Country to come out during the 2000 Sydney Olympics?

Book Club: What book by Pat Conroy begins: "I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one"?

Authors: What name did Alice Sheldon adopt for her science-fiction series, leading Robert Silverberg to claim her writing was "ineluctably masculine"?

Book Bag: What Wild West card shark's demise is central to Pete Dexter's comedy Deadwood?

8 comments:

Harriet M. Welsch said...

Children's: Jabberwocky
Classics: Last of the Mohicans
Non-Fiction: Bill Bryson
Book Club: My Losing Season (those of us who spend time in SC need to be familiar with Conroy, although I haven't actually read this one)
Authors: Once again, my lack of familiarity with the sci-fi genre as a whole rears its ugly head
Book Bag: I don't know, but I thought it was "card sharp." I'm off to investigate.

Amanda said...

I have no idea what the answer to the classics question is, but out of context, that line is really, really disturbing.

Melissa (Avid Reader) said...

This is a great one!

Children's: Jabberwocky

Classics: Last of the Mohicans

Non-Fiction: Bill Bryson

Book Bag: Wild Bill Hickock

Jenny said...

Children's: Jabberwocky
Classics: I'm assuming Last of the Mohicans though I don't really know
Nonfiction: Bill Bryson
Book Bag: I totally know this one! But I can't think of it.

Jeanne said...

Children's: Jabberwocky
Classics: The Last of the Mohicans
Non-Fiction: Bill Bryson
Book Club: My Losing Season
Authors: James Tiptree Jr.
Book Bag: "Wild Bill" Hickok's

Yay for everyone who played, because you got them right!

Harriet, I didn't even know the SF one this time.

Amanda, that's one reason it's important to read the classics--so you get the irony the way it read before it became an allusion.

Karen said...

Jabberwocky?

The only one I'm sure of is NF: Bill Bryson.

Karen K. said...

I am so lame, I only know the NF answer is Bill Bryson. I'm pathetic.

Jeanne said...

Karen, both are right.
KarenLibrarian, people who have been playing this for a while admire anyone who gets one right. These cards are difficult!