Authors Q-S: 'Q' Trivia

1. What did Pat Peoples dedicate nearly every action of his life toward achieving?

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Reuniting with Nikki

During his time at the neural health facility that Pat referred to as "the bad place", Pat diligently prepared himself physically and mentally for Nikki. Throughout the novel, he was always working out and running to stay in shape for Nikki since she had expressed displeasure with his physical condition while they were together. He also read the books Nikki assigned her students so that he would be able to participate in her literary discussions. The central focus of Pat's life remained striving to attain everything Nikki wanted from him so that he would be perfect for her when they got back together.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Boxer

Howard used to be a boxer in his youth, hence his intimidating physical appearance. He is described as a big man with a smashed-up face. Howard was drafted into the military, but we are never told what branch or what rank. His brother-in-law Simon was the lawyer - he and Howard had originally gone into business together as private detectives until Simon became a lawyer. Howard only ever played chess for fun. He originally joins the chess club to improve his chess play, but he soon learns that he's not very good at it and prefers to just watch others play.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: An Adventure of Mind and Spirit

"An Adventure of Mind and Spirit" is the perfect subtitle for this novel. The information carried within the parable of the story is astoundingly edifying. The insight with which Quinn explores our cultural principals is illuminating.

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Apart time

Pat's thoughts about Nikki and his conversations with friends and family frequently included references to what he remembered as a mutual decision between himself and Nikki to spend time apart, and "apart time" is always the phrase Pat used to describe it. At the conclusion of "apart time", Pat hoped to be completely ready to live happily with his wife.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: He is an anonymous narrator

In the sequel, "My Ishmael", we learn that his name is Alan Lomax. Alan becomes Ishmael's pupil and begins his journey into the depths of our cultural doctrine so that he may discover new things about himself and the world around him.

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Running

Pat and Tiffany jogged together almost every day, although Tiffany typically followed Pat from behind and no words were exchanged between them. The activity served both of them in their mental healing as well as physical conditioning. Although they almost never spoke during their jogs, both Pat and Tiffany came to appreciate the other's presence during their exercise, as they were both trying to combat mental issues due to traumatic experiences with loved ones from the past.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Hayes Peterson

The morning after he accepts the job from Aaron, he calls an old friend of his, Hayes Peterson, who works for a newspaper. They meet for lunch and Howard asks him for the name of a psychic. Peterson gives him the name of Denise Purcell, a tarot card reader, whom he feels is not a phony. Denise, in turn, puts Howard in touch with a young clairvoyant man, Richard Holloway. Joel Bailey is a Satanist whom Howard tracks down after reading an old article in the paper. Howard also consults with a rabbi, some people at the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago, and Father White, the editor of a religious publication.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: Save the world

The add concludes "Apply in person." The wording of the ad upsets Alan somewhat. The indignant nature of the ad is what draws him to check it out for himself and try to find out just exactly who this teacher is and what knowledge he could possess that could possibly "save the world".

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Kenny G

When Pat walked in on his wife having an affair with another man in their bathroom, Kenny G's music was playing on a CD player on the sink. Every time Pat heard any music from Kenny G afterward, he would have to clear his mind by humming and counting to ten or else he would react violently to hearing it. Pat's inner struggles with Kenny G occurred several times throughout the novel, both from hearing the music from his soprano saxophone and from hallucinating Kenny G's actual presence in the attic Pat was sleeping in.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: 105

The dilapidated building called the Fairfield was not what Alan had expected. When he arrived the room appeared to be empty except the presence of a chair and a bookshelf. Upon closer inspection Alan notices much, much more.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: A sheep is sacrificed.

No animals are sacrificed during the ceremony. Howard and the other initiate, Leslie, are dressed in sumptuous robes and are given an herbal hallucinogenic tea and Benedictine. Joel Bailey, who calls himself Verdelet during the ceremony, makes announcements and gives instructions. Delices is a beautiful young woman who is a priestess assisting with the rite. The premise of the rite appears to be to break down misconceptions about God and Satan, and to allow Howard and Leslie to let go of their inhibitions. Howard starts off rather nervous and self-conscious, but by the end of the rite he is very relaxed and seems to have dropped some of his hang-ups.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: With Man Gone, Will There Be Hope For Gorilla?

Coupled with the presence of the real life gorilla, Alan interprets the sign to be a statement exemplified by the captive gorilla. He thought Ishmael was nothing more than an animate illustration of the message displayed on the poster. He is soon proved wrong.

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Pretended to write letters to Pat from Nikki

Tiffany's impersonation of Nikki was the one thing that truly infuriated Pat. During one of their dates in which they shared Raisin Bran, Tiffany told Pat to give up on Nikki, which startled him, but did not cause him to stop talking to Tiffany. Both Pat's involvement in a dance competition and foregoing Eagles football games were voluntary choices Pat made in order to have Tiffany contact Nikki for him. It was only when Tiffany informed Pat that she was faking Nikki's letters that Pat got mad and avoided Tiffany until the end of the novel, when he fully accepted his reality.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: What you do not know yourself, you cannot teach another.

This statement is one that Bob Gaines made during a speech at an educational conference when David first met him. This is his way of telling Bob that he just can't explain why he needs to leave. The other three quotes are from Daniel Quinn's other books, namely "Ishmael" and "The Story of B".

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: Takers

The name "Takers" originates from the group of people who approximately 10,000 years ago decided to "take" their welfare into their own hands and start farming full time to survive rather than forage for food like all other humans of the time. According to our culture this event is often referred to as the "agricultural revolution".

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: The Maieutic method

A maieutic teacher is one who acts as a midwife to their students. They help their pupils to draw the knowledge they seek out of their own ideas without actually interfering or giving answers directly to them. This method of exchange between Alan and Ishmael is one of the reasons the dialogue of the novel is so enveloping.

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: Tiffany

Tiffany showed up and immediately apologized to Pat for pretending to be Nikki the whole time and giving Pat false hope of reuniting with his ex-wife. Tiffany explained that she prepared the scheme so that Pat could get closure for his separation from his wife, which she claimed he needed to be able to heal. Pat ran away from Tiffany and didn't speak to her again until the end of the novel.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: A certain road that leads nowhere.

Twenty years earlier, David had actually begun his quest to find whatever he is looking for now. He is driving around Ohio with his best friend, Gil Bingaman. He tells his buddy that "There is a road. A certain road. A road that goes nowhere." He actually finds this road and sees a woman standing alone. David leaves the car and tries to follow the woman, while Gil tries to prevent him. He watches the woman for about an hour, until she walks away, and he then goes back to the car where is friend Gil is waiting. He is never able to find that road again. We do learn that David was a big fan of "The Odyssey" when he was younger, but he never specifically mentions wanting to learn Greek. David's journey appears to parallel "The Odyssey" in many ways. He has a 20-year journey, as did Odysseus. He has a wife and son, just like Odysseus. But is Ellen his patient, faithful wife, or is Andrea?

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: Rachel Sokolow

Walter Sokolow took Ishmael from the zoo where he lived and built him a habitat at his home. His daughter Rachel became his protector after Walter died in 1985.

From Quiz The Silver Linings Playbook

Answer: A cloud chart

"Skywatcher's Cloud Chart" enabled Pat to identify the clouds that he loved to observe so much. Tiffany noticed Pat's propensity to look up at the clouds while running, which made her think he might appreciate such a gift. Pat recognized how much Tiffany understood him and how willing she was to stand in the middle of a snowstorm with him. He also understood that Nikki would not have gone to such lengths for him - a possible silver lining to conclude his fruitless pursuit of Nikki once and for all.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: He murders two drug dealers and their guard dog.

David has quite an adventure once he hits the road. He picks up two Hispanic hitchhikers, a man and boy, who tell him that he should go to Las Vegas because he has nine strokes of luck. They tell him that once his luck runs out, he will no longer smell bad. Then he falls asleep and they strand his car in the mountains. David wakes up to find his car stuck on a hill in the Rockies. He wanders around trying to stay warm and find other people, when he stumbles upon a mysterious town that is all done up like an old Wild West town in the movies, complete with a saloon, bordello, etc. He becomes aware that something supernatural is going on. He is pursued out of the town by Mike, who is a type of zombie corpse (or human dog). Luckily he makes it back to his car and spends the rest of the night there. The next morning, he wanders off and is found by Robbie and his pit bull, Beast, who are involved in some sort of illegal operation up in the mountains. Robbie brings him to the house where he meets Harvey, Robbie's co-worker. They decide that they need to hold David prisoner overnight until Charles, the head of their operation, shows up and tells them what to do with David. That night, David overhears a big commotion and screams in the house. When he gets loose the next morning, he finds everyone slaughtered and blood all over. We later learn that Mike did the killing. (Mike does not kill the dog though.) David leaves the house and runs into Charles, who obviously thinks David did the killing. David holds Robbie's gun to Charles's head and takes his Corvette.

From Quiz "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn

Answer: The Darryl Hicks Carnival

After tracking Ishmael down at the Carnival, Alan and Ishmael attempt to finish the work they had started in room 105. Of course the patrons at the zoo find Alan a bit peculiar, for he is sitting next to a cage and having numerous conversations with a thousand pound gorilla.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Beating Andrea at pool.

David is given several tests by Andrea and the others, but the game of pool is not one of them; it appears to be just for fun, and probably meant to distract David while Dudley Case is tying up Marianne in David's room. In Chapter 44, while David is on his deathbed, John Dee sits at his bedside and explains to him what the tests were and what he should have done differently. Basically, they wanted David to react in any way except the way that boring David Kennesy of Runnell, Indiana, would react. David refused to think outside the box and instead reacted conventionally to all the test situations. Instead of joining Andrea and Marianne in the rock-throwing, he acted shocked. Instead of giving into his desire for Marianne, he untied her. Instead of giving Mike a countermanding order (like a dog), he killed Mike with a rake. Because he did not pass the tests and refused to change his way of thinking, John Dee tells David he is dying and it's too late to save him. "Changed minds" is a big theme in much of Daniel Quinn's writing.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Both of these

Both of these characters, and others, seem to pop up all over the place, sometimes under different names and forms. Pablo, for example, appears to David, Howard and Aaron as a dark man. He also appears to Howard in a dream as a black dog. To Tim, he once appeared as a man with horns. We are first introduced to the Navajo character as Horse Killer, whom David first meets in the Old West town. He then meets him again at Andrea's place, where he is known as Dudley Case. Wolf and Goodman also appear more than once. Howard first encounters them in the portal in Ada's sideboard, and to Ellen they appear as police detectives. John Dee (perhaps not coincidentally named after the Elizabethan/Renaissance visionary) appears both in the Edgewater Beach Hotel Yacht Club bar and in Andrea's house in Taos. The Hispanic hitchhikers pop up in different places, and so does Mike.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Through a portal in Ada's sideboard.

Howard hears a phone ringing one night and discovers that it is coming from a door behind Ada's old sideboard. He pushes the sideboard out of the way and goes through the door. On the other side of the door is his and Ada's old apartment from when they were first married. Ada, who is still alive on this side of the portal, talks to an incredulous Howard and gives him some advice and tasks to do. Later on when Howard goes to Taos, Andrea tells Howard that she can teach him how to open that door at will. Howard refuses.

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: Our culture is destroying life on this planet.

In Chapter 53, Pablo crashes the meeting between Aaron and Howard. Pablo dispels any misconceptions they might have about his kind. He says, "We can't hear people's thoughts [...] like the God of your scripture". Aaron asks if his kind are spirits. Pablo answers, "What is a spirit?" He also says that his kind don't consider themselves gods, even though at certain points in history they were worshiped as gods. Pablo says, "It meant nothing more to us than a new game that we were happy to play. We didn't know what a god is any more than we know what a spirit is." The theme of our civilization destroying the planet is a common one in Quinn's books. Here, Pablo tells Aaron and Howard: "For the first time in our long history, we have an enemy. This enemy is the vast machine the people of your culture have constructed to destroy the life of this planet."

From Quiz Daniel Quinn, "The Holy"

Answer: He goes outside to play ball with his friends.

The book ends with Tim back in Runnell, Indiana, after turning down the opportunity to stay in Taos with Andrea and Pablo. He gets a call from his friend asking him to come outside and play baseball. He leaves his mom a note and runs out the door. The last line in the book is a voice in Tim's head saying, "We'll wait for you, Tim. Not forever. But we'll wait."

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