home
Menu
Create
Random
0
0
0
thumbnail

First Names of Authors #2

Difficultly level: hard. Try to guess the first names of these famous writers in history.
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Featured Quiz
Last updated: December 11, 2019
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
More quiz info >>
First submittedAugust 1, 2012
Times taken34,847
Average score50.0%
Rating4.21
Quiz and answer stats >>
Friends stats >>
4:00
Enter first name here:
0
 / 24 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
First Name
Last Name
Charles
Dickens
Salman
Rushdie
Alexandre
Dumas
Sylvia
Plath
Rudyard
Kipling
Victor
Hugo
Albert
Camus
Louis
L'Amour
First Name
Last Name
Don
DeLillo
Ayn
Rand
Mark
Twain
Maxim
Gorky
Jonathan
Franzen
Barbara
Kingsolver
Roald
Dahl
Dave
Eggers
First Name
Last Name
Horatio
Alger
John
Updike
Susan
Sontag
Agatha
Christie
Emily
Dickinson
Norman
Mailer
Gore
Vidal
Thomas
Pynchon
Your Next Quiz
• Political Figures by Last Name #1
• U.S. States by First Two Letters in 30 Seconds
• Divided World City Name Puzzle #1
• Divided World City Name Puzzle #2
43 Comments
tijko
+2
Level 61
Aug 1, 2012
Its not Ronald Dahl?
tijko
+1
Level 61
Aug 1, 2012
Wow, its not, huh? All that time I think its ronald :P
ander217
+6
Level 75
Jul 2, 2015
Why is it so surprising that a dyslexic can write brilliant books? Alexander Graham Bell, Faraday, Einstein, Pierre Curie, and Edison were all dyslexics. Many with learning disorders find it difficult to learn to read in the traditional way, but it has nothing to do with their level of intelligence. They just have to find nontraditional ways to learn. My son has a learning disability but he became the second-youngest person in our state ever to graduate from law school and be admitted to the bar. His daughter is autistic but received the reading award in kindergarten for reading on a 4th grade level. One of my grandsons has dysgraphia, another learning disability which makes it difficult for him to write, but he was moved up a grade in school and is a fantastic goalie on his hockey team. We all have something to overcome in our lives. It doesn't make us extraordinary. Writing brilliant books is what made Dahl extraordinary.
Freestatebear
+2
Level 86
Jul 22, 2015
I've always been fascinated that he wrote only with pencils, and always on yellow legal pads...
Findlay
+3
Level 81
Nov 1, 2016
Same as Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole.
roleybob
+4
Level 74
Dec 22, 2016
Alexander Graham Bell, Faraday, Einstein, Pierre Curie, and Edison weren't authors of children's books...

But yeah, having dyslexia doesn't mean you can't write a good story

aliberti68
+2
Level 54
Aug 1, 2012
Good quiz. Missed Eggers and DeLillo.
redsplat
+1
Level 73
Feb 5, 2019
If you want to entertain yourself aliberti68, you can check out one of Dave Eggers projects: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/
Shannanygans
+1
Level 67
Nov 8, 2024
Eggers book, Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was fantastic. Highly recommend.
jon12
+1
Level 57
Jan 5, 2013
shouldn't i be on the list too? my name is jonathan and my ela/creative writing teacher says i have a great vocabulary, plot layout, etc... jkjk
travelfan
+1
Level 67
Apr 29, 2014
I was so sure it was Herman Mailer, I kept retyping it *slow headdesk* How could I forget?!?
sillie
+3
Level 76
May 16, 2014
Max Gorki, Maxwell Gorki and Marx Gorki. The less well known Gorki-brothers.
tshalla
+1
Level 77
Mar 9, 2019
I once went to the library in Keene, New York, built the year before Gorky wrote Mother - his most famous novel - in that little town. I asked the librarian if there was anything in the library commemorating his stay in Keene. She asked if had looked in the shelves under "G."
joeythelemur
+1
Level 82
Sep 16, 2014
Columns 1 & 3, no problem. Column 2, got the 3 biggies but that's all. :P
Hedgehog76
+1
Level 70
Dec 4, 2024
Yeah, 2nd column was the hardest. 1st column missing one, 3rd missing two, but 2nd missing half.
celebeth
+1
Level 71
Nov 16, 2014
Have read Falling Man by DeLillo. Very unusual book.
cyninoregon
+1
Level 36
Dec 21, 2014
I'd never heard of jonathan franzen, but looked him up and need to read him. Thanks! I loved that you included Barbara Kingsolver. Fan for 20 years... I have heard of Susan Sontag but thought she wrote musical plays for Broadway.... This site sure reminds me I am not nearly as smart as I think I am. ;) Now that my mom isn't here any more to tell me... Camus, Dumas, Alger, of couse I know of them, but never read them...even Rushdie, I did not read, just skim. Dave Eggers is the last I never heard of...gotta look him up now.
ander217
+1
Level 75
Jul 22, 2015
I agree that this site does not do wonders for one's ego. I am constantly humbled by seeing how little I really know, and even more so by some of the enlightening remarks posted by others.
sinihipsukka
+3
Level 77
Jul 22, 2015
I hadn't heard of Jonathan Franzen either. I just thought of Peter Franzén, a Finnish actor and writer.
blinky
+1
Level 58
Dec 26, 2016
As in "Franzen Comes Alive."
Shannanygans
+1
Level 67
Nov 8, 2024
Hilarious. 🤣
tshalla
+1
Level 77
Mar 9, 2019
It was the last one I got. I struggled to get the Detroit Red Wings' Johan Franzen out of my mind.
QuizWol
+2
Level 65
Nov 28, 2019
Stephen Sondheim does that, writes musical plays, which is really close to Susan Sontag, I can see why you mixed that as I mix far less close names in my head all the time. Hockney and Warhol for instance ... I know really not the same at all but ... there I am.
Shannanygans
+1
Level 67
Nov 8, 2024
The Corrections is a great read—I'd start there for sure.
Instrumental
+1
Level 62
Jul 22, 2015
Knew I would do awful on this quiz (only got five even though I recognized three more). The so called "classics" rarely interest me.
PrinceEric
+2
Level 56
Jul 22, 2015
For "Sontag," I kept typing Guy, Guy, Guy over and over again. Then I realized that it was Guy Montag, not Sontag, and that that man was fictional.
triviawayne
+1
Level 66
Jul 22, 2015
Even worse, I thought it said "Montag" and tried typing "Heidi"
LadyQuizling
+1
Level 56
Jul 22, 2015
I have never heard of several of these and I am a keen reader! And I don't mean Jackie Collins!
hwes
+1
Level 87
Jul 22, 2015
Mixed up Franzen the hockey player with Franzen the writer. Very similar first names.
LarryLovage
+1
Level 55
Jul 22, 2015
Christie! Can't believe I missed that because all I could think of was the NJ governor (and I knew it wasn't him). And I used to be such a huge fan, too.

I didn't have to try to hard to get the right answer, but for some reason I was convinced it was Dom DeLillo.

cornflakesfu
+1
Level 88
Jul 4, 2018
Thinking of Dom DeLuise, perhaps?
vermiciousknid
+2
Level 90
Jul 9, 2019
I tried Dom DeLillo too but moved on when it wasn't accepted. So close!
IsleAuHaulte
+2
Level 91
Oct 17, 2019
Any reason Sylvia Plath is used in both of the First Names Of Authors quizzes and both Who Wrote That Book quizzes?
kalbahamut
+1
Level 81
Jun 29, 2020
I think on the first one it accepted my misspelling of Silvia, too
cledun2
+1
Level 92
Apr 9, 2022
Always bugs me when there are multiple quizzes on the same subject that reuse names. Why not swap plath out for someone who wasn't already an answer in #1?
tshalla
+1
Level 77
Nov 8, 2024
I wonder how Salman Rushdie feels, being the token non-Western, non-White author.
magicaemmy
+2
Level 61
Nov 8, 2024
I totally take your point here, but Dumas was also a non-White author. Not that there shouldn't be more on the list--just pointing out the technicality.
DelaBriQue
+1
Level 65
Nov 8, 2024
I don’t want to be the nitpicker here, so I won’t ask for any change. Let’s see this more as some sharing of information: although being known as the lead singer of Iron Maiden, Bruce Dickinson also writes books.
partdavid
+1
Level 74
Nov 8, 2024
I got "Angie Dickinson" stuck in my head and could not get it out.
Gramgram
+1
Level 53
Nov 8, 2024
I don't know Emily Dickinson, but I kinda know Bruce XD
richiesyxx
+2
Level 73
Nov 8, 2024
Gore Vidal would be delighted that more people have heard of him than they have heard of Norman Mailer. And if you listen very carefully, you might even be able to hear the sound of Mailer, breaking the rotations per minute record for spinning in one’s grave.
CardinalSin
+1
Level 80
Nov 9, 2024
Did anyone else try Dorothy for L'Amour or Venus for DeLillo?
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 67
Nov 11, 2024
Nice to see that "Salmon" is accepted for Rushdie, for all the Kramers in here
Save Your Progress
First Names of Authors
Quiz series by Quizmaster
Copyright H Brothers Inc, 2008–2025
Contact Us | Go To Top | View Mobile Site