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First Names of Authors #1

Based on the last name, guess the first names of these famous writers.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 9, 2019
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First submittedJune 12, 2012
Times taken56,655
Average score58.3%
Rating4.20
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First Name
Last Name
Kurt
Vonnegut
William
Shakespeare
Jane
Austen
George
Orwell
Virginia
Woolf
Edith
Wharton
Sylvia
Plath
Simone
de Beauvoir
First Name
Last Name
Amy
Tan
Ernest
Hemingway
Aldous
Huxley
Oscar
Wilde
Leo
Tolstoy
Geoffrey
Chaucer
Joseph
Conrad
Herman
Melville
First Name
Last Name
Dean
Koontz
Maya
Angelou
Willa
Cather
Günter
Grass
Ian
McEwan
Neil
Gaiman
Gustave
Flaubert
Honoré
de Balzac
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50 Comments
quizzygirl
+1
Level 26
Jun 13, 2012
Only knew 7, and they were all thanks to my Nook author wallpaper.
twained
+7
Level 61
Dec 21, 2014
Seven?

Quizzy, might be time to stop taking quizzes and read a good book or two.

kenpo17
+1
Level 66
Mar 29, 2018
sylvie, if you'd like to try a few more quizzes on books and authors, check my profile. I've got two on YA authors, one on John Green books, one on fantasy authors, and one for classic novels by plot (which is a sequel to someone else's quiz on the same idea).
Jonathan
+1
Level 28
Dec 21, 2014
only 6 for me! time to get reading......
Miqueas
+4
Level 71
Dec 21, 2014
don't worry, I got 8 and I read a lot. From the ones I didn't know, 9 were from the US, 4 British. This quiz is biased to literature in English. At least I want to think that's why I got so few
luxint
+3
Level 66
Dec 23, 2014
ignore the somewhat snobby comments. keep quizzing!
cariad
+2
Level 41
Apr 22, 2015
Sorry, but I got them all with almost 2 mins to spare.
Pookminstamum
+1
Level 64
Jun 9, 2023
Omg 🤭😸

You aced Tragicomedy

Move to Massapachusetts. We can be friends!

Baltimorean
+1
Level 66
May 24, 2013
How about Mary McCarthy?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Nov 1, 2014
I changed this question to remove any ambiguity.
buck1017
+1
Level 78
Aug 27, 2013
Grrr...Aldous...not Adolphous!
beekash
+1
Level 57
Nov 6, 2013
Ha, I did the same thing. Of course I also immediately thought Hermes when I say Conrad :)
Darkenesse
+1
Level 60
Nov 22, 2013
What about Shaun Tan?
LadyScroop
+1
Level 67
May 13, 2018
Came here to say the same. His works are absolutely magical.
Zupity
+1
Level 66
Aug 10, 2024
Shaun Tan is accepted, which is just as well, because I would never have guessed Amy.
burntfrost
+1
Level 47
May 19, 2014
I've read or been forced read books by 9 of these authors.
joeythelemur
+1
Level 82
Sep 16, 2014
Argh, put Gunther for Grass.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Nov 1, 2014
Gunther will work now.
yapok
+1
Level 78
Sep 27, 2014
I couldn't think of a different Wharton than William...
sillie
+1
Level 76
Nov 5, 2014
Mary, Maya... considering I have no idea who it is, I find "Mary" a decent guess. Missed: Angelou, Wharton, McEwan and Cather who I haven't heard about.
cyninoregon
+1
Level 36
Dec 21, 2014
google some of her poetry--"Why The Caged Bird Sings." Such beautiful poetry. During the Clinton Administraton, I think she was the Poet Emeritus or something...she was invited to read her poetry at the Inauguration. I think the first African American poet to achieve any fame crossover... And Oprah was friends and gave her much publicity. Very sad and heartfelt stuff...she was amazing. She only died in the last few years. I was surprised to see Dean Koontz of all people but not Margaret Atwood, or Ann Tyler...or Alice Walker, who wrote The Color Purple. And most amazing of all, John Steinbeck. Add Dickens, Twain, DuMaurier and you have another quiz! LOL
RuthlessCosmo
+2
Level 75
Aug 10, 2024
While we're talking famed African-American poets, let's not forget Langston Hughes, who acquired a good deal of fame during and after the Harlem Renaissance. While "famous American poets" is a small category, Hughes belongs in it.

His closest competition among African-American poets would be Paul Dunbar, who wrote "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the black national anthem, among many other works.

Then there's Gwendolyn Brooks, whose "We Real Cool" is probably her best-known poem. And Nikki Giovanni, who came up through the Black Arts movement in the 60s. And Lorraine Hansbury, better known for her plays, who took the title of her play "A Raisin in the Sun" from one of Hughes's poems.

Just a short list off the top of my head; apologies to anyone I should have included.

Jerry928
+1
Level 76
Dec 21, 2014
Maybe you and/or the quizmaster could do another one? I'd enjoy doing it.
irishbluejay
+1
Level 52
May 19, 2024
Ian McEwana is a legend
nycbarb
+1
Level 43
Dec 21, 2014
Only missed "Gustave Flaubert". Tried "Renee Flaubert" -- must have been thinking of some obscure hockey player......

Fun quiz! Thanks!

amys80424
+1
Level 24
Dec 22, 2014
Got 20, was stuck on de Balzac, kept thinking "Cyrano". Duh.
midas91187
+1
Level 26
Dec 23, 2014
Silvia should be accepted for Plath.
tshalla
+1
Level 77
Mar 13, 2016
I enjoyed this. It turns out, by the way, that a few non-European, non-North American people have also written books.
FadKrashmor
+1
Level 71
Apr 29, 2020
Sometimes even in English. From my nearest bookshelf: Chimamanda Adichie, Aravind Adiga, Romesh Gunesekera, V.S.Naipal (though I guess he's North American on Jetpunk), Vikram Seth.
imalittledespot
+1
Level 68
May 6, 2016
Got em all with 3.07 left!
DarthCaedus66
+1
Level 12
Jul 27, 2017
Where is Tom Clancy?!?
fitheach
+2
Level 58
Aug 21, 2017
Somewhere other than on this quiz. This quiz isn't about you and your favourite writer, you know.
cranbeckh
+3
Level 69
Aug 20, 2017
Koontz was definitely out of place in this list of distinguished authors.
Pookminstamum
+1
Level 64
Jun 9, 2023
The destruction of the surgeon's knees was the end of the line for me with Koontz.

I like Patinkin's Criminal Minds exit quote

"I’m not making a judgment on the taste [of people who watch crime procedurals],” he said. “But I’m concerned about the effect it has. Audiences all over the world use this programming as their bedtime story. This isn’t what you need to be dreaming about.”

Viva la Princess Bride

reverendmeat
+1
Level 84
Sep 17, 2023
What on earth are you talking about
BenFrusciante
+2
Level 46
Aug 25, 2017
I PUT SIMON FOR SIMONE BEAUVOIR ARGGH!! Nevermind, 14 for a relative book noob
divantilya
+1
Level 36
Nov 18, 2017
15/24. And I've read most of these books at one time or another. But for authors such as Flaubert and Chaucer I never actually paid attention to their first names on the jackets of their books. Need to start paying closer attention to mundane things!
QuizWol
+1
Level 65
Nov 28, 2019
'These authors', or I am impressed that you read all their works. Phew.
dave123
+2
Level 65
Jul 20, 2018
please accept Guenter
Killnumb
+1
Level 43
Sep 20, 2018
Very hard for non US citizens
Sifhraven
+1
Level 73
Apr 2, 2019
The top 7 are internationally known though (but indeed i didnt know the others..)

Edit:besides huxley and Vonnegut (tried kirk.. sounds nearly the same) and totally read over gaiman which i knew (and like ! Got introduced to him by the discworldseries)

QuizWol
+1
Level 65
Nov 28, 2019
Why? I knew a 20 of them and I am not a US citizen. And I would have got one more if I could remember how to spell it.

I thought Koontz was an artist but I think I am thinking Kooning.

kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Jun 29, 2020
Non-Americans don't read?
yourmommacalled
+1
Level 25
Aug 10, 2024
Günther Grass is a German author
EcceHomo
+2
Level 83
Aug 13, 2024
I think the point being made is that Willa Cather, and possibly Dean Koontz are not as well-known as the others in this quiz.

Most of them are world-famous.

Cather may be on the American school syllabus but I suspect she is hardly read outside the US. I just happen to have heard of her (and My Antonia).

elcampeador
+1
Level 79
Oct 19, 2021
First two columns are pretty straightforward, after that...
Rozzi
+1
Level 61
Aug 10, 2024
I have never heard of Willa Cather. Is she really famous?
iva222
+1
Level 35
Aug 12, 2024
Tolstoy's name is Lev.

That was his actual name so it should be accepted as an answer. Leo is the English version.

TheodoreE45
+3
Level 93
Aug 12, 2024
...and what language did you take this quiz in I wonder?
LAP3UNC
+1
Level 87
Nov 8, 2024
Balzac... huh huh huh.
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