Arts and Books Mixed Bag 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dr. Fu Manchu

The character first appeared in a series of short stories published in 1913 as 'The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu'. Rohmer's last novel, 'Emperor Fu Manchu' was published shortly before the author's death in June 1959, but that was not the end of the character, and numerous writers have produced later stories of his exploits.
Christopher Lee played Manchu in a series of films in the 1960s, and Peter Sellers played him in a 1980 spoof.
Ian Fleming's arch criminal, Dr. Julius No, borrowed heavily from the Manchu character.

Answer: Barbara Cartland

Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland was born in Birmingham, England in 1901. She was named in the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as the world's top-selling author, and in the 1990s her book sales passed the one billion mark. She died in 2000 aged 98, having written a total of 664 novels.

Answer: Richard Wagner

German composer Richard Wagner is best remembered for his later works, most notably 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' (The Ring of the Nibelung, also known as 'The Ring Cycle'), which he produced in the early 1870s. The three Wagner operas in the question were written in the 1840s.
Von Weber was an early-19th Century German composer whose best-known opera is 'Der Freischütz'.
Dvořák was a late-19th Century Czech composer and his best known opera is 'Rusalka'.
Strauss was a German composer who worked mainly in the early 20th Century. He produced several notable operas including 'Salome' and 'Elektra'.

Answer: Klapka

Jerome Klapka Jerome was born in Walsall in the West Midlands in 1859 although he grew up in London. His most famous work, published in 1889, 'Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)', tells the tale of J, Harris, George and their dog on a boating holiday along the River Thames.
The sequel, 'Three Men on the Bummel' about a cycling holiday in Germany, was published in 1900.

Answer: Moby Dick

Ishmael is the former schoolteacher who narrates the first and last thirds of Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel 'Moby Dick'.
The novel tells the tale of the 'Pequod' and its tyrannical Captain Ahab's pursuit of the whale that had maimed him on his previous voyage.

Answer: Mary Cassatt

Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born on the outskirts of Pittsburgh PA in 1844, but she spent most of her life in France where she was a close friend of the Impressionist Edgar Degas.
Her best-known works include 'Maternal Kiss', 'Summertime', 'The Child's Bath' and 'Maternity'.
She was awarded the French 'Legion d'Honneur' in 1904 in recognition of her services to art.

Answer: William Faulkner

Virtually unknown until he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, William Faulkner is now considered one of the most important writers of the 20th Century.
Born William Cuthbert Falkner in New Albany, Mississippi in 1897, he lived much of his life in nearby Oxford, in Lafayette County. It was this part of Mississippi on which he based his fictional Yoknapatawpha County and the town of 'Jefferson' in which many of his novels are set.

Answer: Athena

The patron of Athens, the Parthenon was built on the Acropolis in honor of Athena. She is frequently depicted as an armed warrior in the company of Nike, the goddess of victory. Some statues show Athena with an owl perched on one shoulder. She is one of 'The Twelve Olympians'.

Answer: 'Show Boat'

'Show Boat' is the best-known of the collaborations between Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Well-known songs from the musical include "Ol' Man River" and "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".

Answer: 'Richard III'

Written towards the end of the 16th Century, 'Richard III' is also sometimes designated as one of Shakespeare's 'tragedies'. It is generally considered the last of the historical cycle that began with 'Richard II'.
'Richard III' is rarely performed in its original form these days, primarily because of its length -- 'Hamlet' is the only Shakespeare play which is longer. In addition to the quotation in this question, 'Richard III' is also known for the "Now is the winter of our discontent" speech.