Books quiz of 2010

How much attention were you paying to literary developments this year? Anwer these questions and find out if you’re a chump or a champion

guardian.co.uk, Friday 24 December 2010 10.13 GMT

Lawrence Durrell, Stieg Larsson, Mervyn Peak and Douglas Adams

Reanimated? Lawrence Durrell, Stieg Larsson, Mervyn Peak and Douglas Adams (See question two). Photograph: Getty/PA/Hulton/David Sillitoe

1.Celebrated literary recluse JD Salinger passed away in January 2010, at what age?
1. 71
2. 81
3. 91
4. 101
2.To which famous sequence of novels was it announced in February that a further book would be added, compiled by the author’s widow from notes left by her husband?
1. The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake
2. The Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson
3. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novels by Douglas Adams
4. The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell
3.To which classical figure did poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy compare footballer David Beckham, in a poem written in March following the heel injury that took him out of the running (literally) for the World Cup?
1. Hercules
2. Achilles
3. Hector
4. Diana
4.Which author won the Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction an unprecedented third time in April?
1. Michael Moorcock
2. Christopher Priest
3. China Miéville
4. Justina Robson
5.As announced in May, which thriller writer has been commissioned by the Fleming Estate to write the next new Bond novel, following Sebastian Faulks’s Devil May Care?
1. Jeffrey Archer
2. Jeffery Deaver
3. Mark Billingham
4. Michael Connelly
6.Previously unknown work by each of these authors – bar one – appeared this year. Which is the fake?
1. Stieg Larsson – two unpublished sf short stories written in his youth, titled “The Crystal Balls” and “The Flies”
2. Dr Seuss – a fragment of a verse story called “All Sorts of Sports”
3. Roald Dahl – a fragment of a children’s story titled “The Eyes of Mr Croaker”
4. Virginia Woolf – an early story from which “The Lighthouse” was developed, titled “The Torch”
7.Which high-profile crime author was aboard the Gaza flotilla stormed by Israeli troops in May?
1. PD James
2. Henning Mankell
3. Jo Nesbo
4. Val McDermid
8.What is the theme of controversial Australian novel The Slap, one of this year’s popular hits, by writer Christos Tsiolkas?
1. The ructions caused among a group of Australians when one of their number slaps another’s unruly child at a barbecue
2. The tangled emotional and professional lives of a group of Australian make-up saleswomen
3. A group of Sydney drag queens have a massive argument
4. A tale of surfing slackers, “the slap” being Bondi slang for the sound of board on water
9.Which author was accused this summer of “waging war on Christianity” by a Jesuit priest?
1. Richard Dawkins for The God Delusion
2. Christopher Hitchens for God is Not Great
3. Sam Harris for The Moral Landscape
4. Philip Pullman for The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
10.Which author attacked the New York Times in August for favouring “white male literary darlings” in its books coverage, particularly in relation to Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom?
1. Patricia Cornwell
2. Jodi Picoult
3. Sara Paretsky
4. Barbara Kingsolver
11.What was the title originally planned for Tony Blair’s memoir, A Journey, published in September?
1. My Journey
2. My Struggle
3. The Journey
4. Our Journey
12.What new book did President Obama publish this year?
1. A volume of memoirs of his time in office thus far
2. A polemic in favour of healthcare reform
3. A picture book for children
4. A photographic tribute to his dog Bo
13.What personal accessory was purloined from literary star Jonathan Franzen at the London launch party for his novel Freedom in October?
1. His wallet
2. His watch
3. His glasses
4. His baseball cap
14.In October, Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question won the Man Booker prize. How much money did he win?
1. £25,000
2. £50,000
3. £75,000
4. £100,000
15.Why did JK Rowling text Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe on the film release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this autumn?
1. To congratulate him on his fine performance
2. To offer suggestions for how he could improve for the final film
3. To assure him there would be no more Harry Potter novels
4. To promise him she would write another Harry Potter novel
16.After weeks of speculation about the contenders, who was it who eventually won this year’s Nobel prize for literature in October?
1. Ngugi wa Thiong’o
2. Mario Vargas Llosa
3. Tomas Transtromer
4. Cormac McCarthy
17.Which book, by academic Alexandra Harris, won the Guardian first book award in November?
1. Romantic Moderns, a study of the arts in England the interwar period
2. Modern Romantics, a study of the love lives of English artists in the interwar period
3. Modern Romances, a study of the output of publishers such as Mills and Boon
4. New Romantics, a study of the pop music scene in the early 1980s
18.Which book is 2010’s Christmas number one bestseller in the UK?
1. Michael McIntyre’s Life and Laughing
2. Jamie’s Thirty-Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver
3. A Simples Life by Aleksandr Orlov
4. Keith Richards’s Life
  
  And here are the answers
  1. Celebrated literary recluse JD Salinger passed away in January 2010, at what age?
  
  Correct answer: 91
  
  2. To which famous sequence of novels was it announced in February that a further book would be added, compiled by the author’s widow from notes left by her husband?
  
  Correct answer: The Gormenghast trilogy by Mervyn Peake
  
  3. To which classical figure did poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy compare footballer David Beckham, in a poem written in March following the heel injury that took him out of the running (literally) for the World Cup?
  
  Correct answer: Achilles
  
  4. Which author won the Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction an unprecedented third time in April?
  
  Correct answer: China Miéville
  
  5. As announced in May, which thriller writer has been commissioned by the Fleming Estate to write the next new Bond novel, following Sebastian Faulks’s Devil May Care?
  
  Correct answer: Jeffery Deaver
  
  6. Previously unknown work by each of these authors – bar one – appeared this year. Which is the fake?
  
  Correct answer: Virginia Woolf – an early story from which “The Lighthouse” was developed, titled “The Torch”
  
  7. Which high-profile crime author was aboard the Gaza flotilla stormed by Israeli troops in May?
  
  Correct answer: Henning Mankell
  
  8. What is the theme of controversial Australian novel The Slap, one of this year’s popular hits, by writer Christos Tsiolkas?
  
  Correct answer: The ructions caused among a group of Australians when one of their number slaps another’s unruly child at a barbecue
  
  9. Which author was accused this summer of “waging war on Christianity” by a Jesuit priest?
  
  Correct answer: Philip Pullman for The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ
  
  10. Which author attacked the New York Times in August for favouring “white male literary darlings” in its books coverage, particularly in relation to Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom?
  
  Correct answer: Jodi Picoult
  
  11. What was the title originally planned for Tony Blair’s memoir, A Journey, published in September?
  
  Correct answer: The Journey
  
  12. What new book did President Obama publish this year?
  
  Correct answer: A picture book for children
  
  13. What personal accessory was purloined from literary star Jonathan Franzen at the London launch party for his novel Freedom in October?
  
  Correct answer: His glasses
  
  14. In October, Howard Jacobson’s The Finkler Question won the Man Booker prize. How much money did he win?
  
  Correct answer: £50,000
  
  15. Why did JK Rowling text Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe on the film release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows this autumn?
  
  Correct answer: To assure him there would be no more Harry Potter novels
  
  16. After weeks of speculation about the contenders, who was it who eventually won this year’s Nobel prize for literature in October?
  
  Correct answer: Mario Vargas Llosa
  
  17. Which book, by academic Alexandra Harris, won the Guardian first book award in November?
  
  Correct answer: Romantic Moderns, a study of the arts in England the interwar period
  
  18. Which book is 2010’s Christmas number one bestseller in the UK?
  
  Correct answer: Jamie’s Thirty-Minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

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