Literary Suicides

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. This well-traveled Hungarian revealed his disenchantment with Communism in the 1940 novel "Darkness at Noon." Long suffering from leukemia and Parkinson's, he took a drug overdose in 1983. Milan Kundera Friedrich Nietzsche Lech Walesa Arthur Koestler

2. This American poet composed "Lady Lazarus", in which she recounts previous suicide attempts: "I am only thirty. And like the cat I have nine times to die. This is number three." In 1963, she fatally gassed herself. Sylvia Plath Emily Dickinson Gwendolyn Brooks Charlotte Bronte

3. This celebrated American novelist and short-story writer penned "Hills Like White Elephants" and "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." He shot himself in the head in 1961. Need a few more hints? Think bullfighting, alcohol, and the character Santiago. Jack Kerouac John Steinbeck Ernest Hemingway Walt Whitman

4. This British playwright, author of "Crave" and "Blasted," initially faced critical condemnation for the extreme violence common in her plays. She hanged herself in 1999. (Hint: This Citizen may have been fond of rosebuds). Mildred Lane Beatrice Zane Mary Jane Sarah Kane

5. This American poet, who battled depression throughout her life, wrote "Wanting to Die" and "The Truth the Dead Know." In 1974, she died of carbon monoxide poisoning in her garage. Alice Walker Anne Sexton Stevie Smith Maya Angelou

6. This prolific American writer is best known for "Call of the Wild." His death in 1916 has sometimes been rumoured a suicide by morphine overdose, though this is by no means proven. His official cause of death was uremia. Gore Vidal Jack London Washington Irving James Michener

7. This Auschwitz survivor, born in Italy, wrote of his experiences in "If This is a Man." He died after falling several stories from his apartment landing in 1987; most conclude that this was a deliberate suicide rather than accident. His given name means "first." Elie Wiesel Umberto Eco Primo Levi Ignazio Silone

8. This British Romantic poet is widely believed to have composed "The Rowley Poems" (which at the time of publication had purportedly been written by one Thomas Rowley in the 15th century). He ingested arsenic in his attic in 1770, and died penniless at only 17. One might assume from his surname that he enjoyed conversation. Walter Raleigh Harrison Keats Edmund Godwin Thomas Chatterton

9. This gonzo journalist wrote "The Rum Diaries" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." He shot himself in the head in 2005. Several months later, his ashes were fired from a cannon while Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" played. P.J. O'Rourke Hunter S. Thompson Johnny Depp Charles Bukowski

10. This British novelist, author of "Mrs. Dalloway" and "To the Lighthouse," drowned herself in a river in 1941. Nicole Kidman donned a prosthetic nose to play her in a 2002 film. Virginia Woolf Mary Shelley Anne Bronte Jane Austen