Literary "Firsts" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Paradise

Written by Toni Morrison. She is both a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author who penned many books over her career. "Paradise" was published in 1997 and was her seventh novel.

Answer: Cruddy

Written by Lynda Barry. "Cruddy" was published in 1999. I first read the book last year after she came to the city where I live and gave a lecture with her longtime friend and "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. After her lecture I was inspired to seek out more of her comedic books.

The book was officially released as an illustrated novel, though it could have been called a graphic novel as well.

Answer: Postmortem

Written by Patricia Cornwell. This crime novel was the debut for Cornwell, who was a former journalist. The book was first published in 1990, and she went on to become a prolific author, penning more than 30 books.

Answer: Anna Karenina

Written by Leo Tolstoy. The book was first published over the course of four years in the Russian periodical "The Russian Messenger", from 1873 to 1977. Though he wrote "War and Peace" first, the author himself considered "Anna Karenina" to be his first true novel. In 2007 "Time" magazine declared it the greatest book ever written.

Answer: Big Machine

Written by Victor LaValle. "Big Machine" was the third book from LaValle when it was published in 2009, about a decade after his first novel, "Slapboxing with Jesus: Stories".

LaValle is also a noted essayist.

Answer: Another Roadside Attraction

Written by Tom Robbins. First published in 1971, the book was Robbins' debut as a novelist, though he had written a biography on Guy Anderson in 1965.

Robbins is known for taking long breaks between his projects, publishing just eight novels between 1971 and 2003. Most of his projects are comedic in tone, though some have taken more serious turns at times.

Answer: We the Animals

Written by Justin Torres. The book, published in 2011, served as the debut for Torres. The book's popularity slung Torres into the limelight and got him named one of the sexiest men alive in 2011 by Slate.com.

Like the unnamed narrator of the story, Torres is of American and Puerto Rican descent.

Answer: Moby-Dick

Written by Herman Melville. Also known as "The Whale", the book was first published in 1851. The book was the sixth of 14 books he would publish in his lifetime. An additional unfinished book was released years after his death.

While considered one of the classics, the book was a failure when it was first published and was out of print when Melville died in 1891.

Answer: Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon

Written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A Nobel Prize winner in 1982 for his novels, short storys, and screenplay that had been published up to that point. "Balthazar's Marvelous Afternoon" was not one of his more notable works, but it is one of my personal favorites.

Answer: Life of Pi

Written by Yann Martel. The book was the fourth novel, and second that was adapted into a movie for the Canadian author.

Martel won the Man Booker Award for the book, which told the tale of an Indian man who survived on a boat with a tiger after a shipwreck killed the rest of his family.