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Quiz about Ben and Stephen and Nick
Quiz about Ben and Stephen and Nick

Ben and Stephen and Nick Trivia Quiz


A quiz on some of my favorite modern British authors. Nothing too high-brow here - what these men have in common is readability and wit.

A multiple-choice quiz by agony. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
agony
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
215,512
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
8 / 10
Plays
3420
Awards
Editor's Choice
Last 3 plays: Guest 2 (7/10), Guest 74 (3/10), Dagny1 (10/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. This author does a lot of magazine and newspaper work ("The New Yorker", "The Independent", "Believer"). His first bestseller was a memoir of his love affair with Arsenal FC, and several of his books have been filmed - one in 2002 with Hugh Grant, and another in 2000 with John Cusack. His 2005 novel is called "A Long Way Down". Who is he? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This writer can be introduced by a quote from one of his most famous books: "He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it".
The work he is best known for started as a BBC Radio 4 series, in 1978. He died in 2001, and many of us still can't get over it. Who is he?
Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This author started out as a stand up comedian, and then went on to write for television ("Blackadder", "The Thin Blue Line"). He's worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on stage musicals, and with Queen for "We Will Rock You", and has written several screenplays. And there was something else...what was it?...oh yes! Novels. Lots of novels, the first one being "Stark" in 1989. Who is he? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This author started his career as a barrister, and has used his experience of the law to good effect with his most famous character. He left the law to write plays, and published his first novel, "The Narrowing Stream", in 1954. He wrote a trilogy about the character Leslie Titmuss, but his masterwork is his plonk-swilling, Wordsworth-spouting barrister, the one who is married to "She Who Must Be Obeyed". Who is he? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This Irish author burst onto the scene with his 1987 novel, about a bunch of guys getting together to form an R&B band in Dublin. It was filmed in 1991, with Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte. He went on to win the Booker Prize in 1993, but at my house, he's famous as the author of "The Giggler Treatment", a rather - um - scatological children's book. His 2004 book was "Oh, Play that Thing", a continuation of the story begun in "A Star Called Henry". Who is he? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. This next author doesn't really fit the 'modern' part of this quiz so well; he died in 1995 at the age of 73, but I just finished reading "One Fat Englishman" the other day, and had to include him. His first novel, "Lucky Jim", was published in 1954; he was well known as one of the Angry Young Men of the '50s. Who is he? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This author is also an actor ("Blackadder", "Jeeves and Wooster", "Wilde") and radio broadcaster (does the name "Donald Trefusis" mean anything to you?). He has written for newspapers and magazines (the "Listener" and the "Daily Telegraph"). His first novel was about a forged Dickens manuscript, his next about a (possible) saint among the English upper class. Then came time-travel, then a revenge tale... Who is he? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. This author may be less well known than most of the others in this quiz. His 2000 novel won the Whitbread Prize, and was nominated for the Booker. It's a wonderful story of Manx-speaking smugglers, mad Victorian explorers, Tasmanian natives, and everything in between. Who is he? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. This author has done a lot of writing for film, television and stage. One of his novels, "A Shock to the System", was filmed in 1990 with Michael Caine. He is primarily a mystery author, with three series.
One series is about actor Charles Paris - intermittently employed, intermittently alcoholic, intermittently married.
Another is about Mrs. Pargeter, the widow of a crime boss. She solves her mysteries with the help of her late husband's 'associates'.
The Fethering series has a couple of women amateur detectives in a seaside town.
Who is he?
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This author has worked as a screenwriter, on such films as "Octopussy" and the 1973 version of "The Three Musketeers". He has written several books of memoirs and semi-memoirs of military life, and a few books based on the English-Scottish border. He gets his place in this quiz, however, for his series featuring a rogue and a scoundrel of Victorian times. This character is borrowed from an 1856 novel by Thomas Hughes, and has since taken on a life undreamed of by his creator. He has run away from, and wenched and bullied and lied his way through, every interesting event of the late 19th century (and there are a lot of them). Who is this author? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 23 2024 : Guest 2: 7/10
Mar 21 2024 : Guest 74: 3/10
Mar 12 2024 : Dagny1: 10/10
Mar 11 2024 : bradez: 7/10
Feb 21 2024 : Guest 86: 8/10
Feb 17 2024 : calmdecember: 10/10
Feb 17 2024 : estherd: 9/10
Feb 12 2024 : Guest 199: 10/10
Feb 10 2024 : Guest 172: 5/10

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This author does a lot of magazine and newspaper work ("The New Yorker", "The Independent", "Believer"). His first bestseller was a memoir of his love affair with Arsenal FC, and several of his books have been filmed - one in 2002 with Hugh Grant, and another in 2000 with John Cusack. His 2005 novel is called "A Long Way Down". Who is he?

Answer: Nick Hornby

It was while reading "A Long Way Down" that I got the idea for this quiz - I realized that I've been reading a lot of this type of thing lately, and that I really do like it a lot.
Any one who has read "High Fidelity", or seen the movie, won't be surprised to hear that Hornby has made quite a name for himself writing about music. His book "31 Songs" ("Songbook" in the US) (2003) talks about 31 songs that have significance to him.
2. This writer can be introduced by a quote from one of his most famous books: "He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it". The work he is best known for started as a BBC Radio 4 series, in 1978. He died in 2001, and many of us still can't get over it. Who is he?

Answer: Douglas Adams

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is the only radio show ever to be nominated for a Hugo Award (the World Science Fiction Convention's top prize), in 1979. It lost, to "Superman".
3. This author started out as a stand up comedian, and then went on to write for television ("Blackadder", "The Thin Blue Line"). He's worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on stage musicals, and with Queen for "We Will Rock You", and has written several screenplays. And there was something else...what was it?...oh yes! Novels. Lots of novels, the first one being "Stark" in 1989. Who is he?

Answer: Ben Elton

Ben Elton writes great, funny novels - from the murder committed on the set of a "Big Brother" type reality show ("Dead Famous") to the film director who gets his comeuppance ("Popcorn") to the ... oh, I'd better not tell you what "Past Mortem" is about, or I'll spoil it. Anyway, they're all good, read them.
4. This author started his career as a barrister, and has used his experience of the law to good effect with his most famous character. He left the law to write plays, and published his first novel, "The Narrowing Stream", in 1954. He wrote a trilogy about the character Leslie Titmuss, but his masterwork is his plonk-swilling, Wordsworth-spouting barrister, the one who is married to "She Who Must Be Obeyed". Who is he?

Answer: John Mortimer

Leo McKern, who has portrayed Mortimer's Horace Rumpole on television for so long, has BECOME Rumpole, to the extent that it is his caricature that is shown on the book covers. The "Old Bailey hack" is one of my favorite literary characters.
The world lost this comic voice on January 16th, 2009.
5. This Irish author burst onto the scene with his 1987 novel, about a bunch of guys getting together to form an R&B band in Dublin. It was filmed in 1991, with Robert Arkins as Jimmy Rabbitte. He went on to win the Booker Prize in 1993, but at my house, he's famous as the author of "The Giggler Treatment", a rather - um - scatological children's book. His 2004 book was "Oh, Play that Thing", a continuation of the story begun in "A Star Called Henry". Who is he?

Answer: Roddy Doyle

"Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha" was the Booker winner. Doyle is probably best loved as the author of the Barrytown Trilogy - "The Commitments", "The Snapper", and "The Van" - funny, lively, bittersweet. He changed focus a bit in later years, and "Oh, Play that Thing" was the first Roddy Doyle novel that I just couldn't be bothered to finish.
6. This next author doesn't really fit the 'modern' part of this quiz so well; he died in 1995 at the age of 73, but I just finished reading "One Fat Englishman" the other day, and had to include him. His first novel, "Lucky Jim", was published in 1954; he was well known as one of the Angry Young Men of the '50s. Who is he?

Answer: Kingsley Amis

Amis' wit seems a little savage in these milder days, but if you can stand the heat, he is still worth reading. He was of course the father of the noted author, Martin Amis.
7. This author is also an actor ("Blackadder", "Jeeves and Wooster", "Wilde") and radio broadcaster (does the name "Donald Trefusis" mean anything to you?). He has written for newspapers and magazines (the "Listener" and the "Daily Telegraph"). His first novel was about a forged Dickens manuscript, his next about a (possible) saint among the English upper class. Then came time-travel, then a revenge tale... Who is he?

Answer: Stephen Fry

To say that Fry's life has had its ups and downs would be to put it mildly. On one hand, imprisonment as a teenager, and walking out on a starring role in a West End production and disappearing. On the other, brilliant success as actor and writer.
My favorite Fry novel, hands down, is "Making History". It has everything I like in a novel - it's fast, funny, has a nicely convoluted but not impenetrable plot, and a sweet (gay) love story like the cherry on top. Even a little bit of insight into humanity, like an added bonus; what more can a reader want?
8. This author may be less well known than most of the others in this quiz. His 2000 novel won the Whitbread Prize, and was nominated for the Booker. It's a wonderful story of Manx-speaking smugglers, mad Victorian explorers, Tasmanian natives, and everything in between. Who is he?

Answer: Matthew Kneale

"English Passengers" was my introduction to Kneale's work, and a fine introduction it is. The novel is told through many voices, and so many of them are memorable. There is a lot of humour in this book, but quite a bit of tragedy too. Kneale's use of language is wonderful, especially in dialogue. You will have gained a small but useful Manx vocabulary by the end of the book. Well, maybe not 'useful', as there are no longer any Manx speakers in the world, but, at any rate, interesting.
9. This author has done a lot of writing for film, television and stage. One of his novels, "A Shock to the System", was filmed in 1990 with Michael Caine. He is primarily a mystery author, with three series. One series is about actor Charles Paris - intermittently employed, intermittently alcoholic, intermittently married. Another is about Mrs. Pargeter, the widow of a crime boss. She solves her mysteries with the help of her late husband's 'associates'. The Fethering series has a couple of women amateur detectives in a seaside town. Who is he?

Answer: Simon Brett

All of Simon Brett's novels are witty and fun, but to my mind, the Charles Paris books are the real winners here. Charles is always glad to get a job, and throughout the series, he works in every venue possible for an actor - film, television, commercials, rep, voice-over... Everything about these books is a delight, and Charles himself is a most appealing fellow. I especially love the reviews of his past performances which are sprinkled through the books.
10. This author has worked as a screenwriter, on such films as "Octopussy" and the 1973 version of "The Three Musketeers". He has written several books of memoirs and semi-memoirs of military life, and a few books based on the English-Scottish border. He gets his place in this quiz, however, for his series featuring a rogue and a scoundrel of Victorian times. This character is borrowed from an 1856 novel by Thomas Hughes, and has since taken on a life undreamed of by his creator. He has run away from, and wenched and bullied and lied his way through, every interesting event of the late 19th century (and there are a lot of them). Who is this author?

Answer: George MacDonald Fraser

Fraser's "Flashman" series is something quite remarkable. He has taken the bully from Hughes' "Tom Brown's Schooldays", and created a whole life for him, careening around the Empire. The books are meticulously researched and brimful of interesting historical nuggets. They are also very funny.
George MacDonald Fraser died January 2nd, 2008.


I hope you have enjoyed my quiz, and maybe I have interested you in some hitherto untried authors. I notice that Bill Bryson has tried to horn his way onto the quiz, but he just doesn't qualify, he's an American.
Source: Author agony

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
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