Top Ten Best-Sellers Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Bible

While these are all best-sellers, it is generally agreed that the Bible is the best-selling book of all time. Apparently, it has the distinction of being the most shoplifted book of all time too. Recent estimates are that over 6 billion copies have been printed, sold or distributed in more than 2,000 languages and dialects (as of 2002).

Answer: "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Tung"

Between the years 1966 and 1971, it was compulsory for every Chinese adult to own a copy of "Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse Tung", also known as "The Little Red Book". The punishment for failure to produce a copy upon demand ranged from an on-the-spot beating to imprisonment with hard labour.

Answer: American Spelling Book

Webster believed that America should have its own version of English, partly because he felt the language should be simplified and partly as a political tool to help unite the thirteen colonies into one nation. When he compiled the first American dictionary, he changed the spelling of many words and also added American words that were not known in England, like 'skunk' and 'hickory'. One of the major spelling changes Webster instituted was the deletion of silent or redundant letters; for example, he dropped the silent 'u' in words like 'colour' and changed words like 'catalogue' to 'catalog'. 'Theatre' became 'theater', 'plough' became 'plow', and 'sulphur' became 'sulfur'. Noah Webster's "American Spelling Book" was first published in 1783. For over a century, it was the favourite textbook used to teach generations of Americans to spell the new way.

Answer: The Guinness Book of Records

All these books are great sources of trivia but 'The Guinness Book of Records' is number 4 on the Top Ten list. It was first published in August 1955 by Ross and Norris McWhirter and was an instant best-seller. The book was commissioned by Sir Hugh Beaver, the Managing Director of Arthur Guinness, Son and Co., Ltd. Sir Hugh had become involved in an argument over which British game bird flew the fastest - the plover or the grouse.

As a result, he felt that Britain needed a reference book which would list as many things as possible in terms of being the largest, smallest, longest, shortest, fastest, slowest, etc.

His idea was that these books could be sold in pubs, along with Guinness stout, to help settle the sorts of arguments that have a tendency to arise in pubs.

By the way, the swiftest British game bird was neither the plover nor the grouse - that honour belongs to the wood pigeon.

Answer: The World Almanac

"The World Almanac" was first published in 1868 by the New York World newspaper. Publication was ceased in 1876 but in 1886, Joseph Pulitzer (of Pulitzer Prize fame) purchased the newspaper and resurrected the almanac with the goal of making it a "compendium of universal knowledge".

It has been published annually ever since. According to The World Almanac website, over 80 million copies of this book have been printed (as of 2005).

Answer: McGuffey's Eclectic Readers

In 1833, an Ohio publishing company, Truman and Smith, decided to create a series of school text books. They hired the Reverend William Holmes McGuffey to create them. Reverend Holmes had already published his first reader in 1836 but went on to create a series of readers called "McGuffey's Eclectic Readers". They are still in print (as of 2005) and are still best-sellers.

Answer: Benjamin Spock

The seventh best-seller is "The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care" by Dr Benjamin Spock, first published in 1946 and priced at 25 cents. Dr Spock won a gold medal as a member of the American rowing team at the 1924 Olympic Games. He ran for president in 1972 as a candidate for the People's Party.

Answer: Elbert Hubbard

"A Message to Garcia" was originally published in 1899. Hubbard told the true story of a man who carried a message to Garcia during the Spanish-American War. It was a best-seller at the time because many American employers purchased them in bulk to distribute to their employees.

More a booklet than a book, its subject was labour relations, improving productivity and work ethics. You can read it on-line for free.

Answer: Jesus Christ

"In His Steps" is an inspirational novel by the Reverend Charles Monroe Sheldon. It is not well known today although it brought instant fame to its author after it was published in 1896. This novel tells the story of the Reverend Henry Maxwell and his congregation who are challenged by an unemployed "down-and-outer" during the Sunday service to actually practice what was being preached.

The hobo then dies and several members of the congregation take on the challenge to live their lives over the next year, constantly asking themselves "What would Jesus do?" in every situation that confronts them.

The novel then tells of the ramifications of these choices.

Answer: "The Valley of the Dolls" (Jacqueline Susann)

This novel was loosely based on Jacqueline Susann's own experiences as an actress in Hollywood in the early 1960s. The "dolls" referred to in the title are drugs ("dolls" are "downers", such as barbiturates, tranquilizers, alcohol and depressants). It is estimated that this novel has sold about 30 million copies as of 2002, although the exact figure cannot be verified.

It has been said that "the most widely published fiction is publishers' own sales figures". While I researched this quiz, I found that most of the books on this list claimed sales that were "second only to the Bible"!