Beat Writers
Jewish & Asian Writers
Latino & African-Am. Writers
"Other" Writers
Misc. Writers
100
A 1950s and 60s underground, anti-conformist group who explored a rejection current standards, innovative style, alternative sexualities, alternative religions, and a rejection of materialism.
Who were Beat Writers
100
Comedy by Joseph Heller about a WWII bombadier who does everything possible to avoid being sent on bombing missions. Title entered the English language to explain a vicious circle where an absurd, no-win choice, in which the outcome is the lesser of two evils.
What is "Catch-22"
100
African-American author and poet who wrote 7 autobiographies, the first "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" about her life up to the age of 17.
Who is Maya Angelou
100
Author AND novel that focuses on themes of racial inequality, class, courage and compassion, gender roles and the loss of innocence of six-year-old Scout
What is Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird"
100
New genre of literature created by Truman Capote when he wrote "In Cold Blood", a novel about a Kansas family murdered in their home.
What is "true crime"
200
A chronicle of the power struggle between head nurse, Ratchet, and Randle McMurphy, a patient at a mental institution. Book based on author's experiences as a volunteer for a CIA LSD study and job as a night aide at a veteran's hospital.
What is "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
200
Author of great baseball story, "The Natural", staring Roy Hobbs, an unknown middle-aged baseball player who achieves legendary status with his stellar talent.
Who was Bernard Malamud
200
Alice Walker novel about a young, African-American woman who sees herself as property until another woman teaches her to value herself. 1985 movie by same name starring Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg.
What is "The Color Purple"
200
The temperature that paper (books) burns at in the 1st dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury.
What is "Faharenheit 451"
200
The heartbreaking story of a talented young woman's descent into mental illness; semi-autobiographical novel of Sylvia Plath, who dealt with her own mental illness.
What is "The Bell Jar"
300
Pioneer of the Beat generation who became an underground celebrity and originator of the "hippie" movement.
Who was Jack Kerouac
300
Game played as stories are shared in "The Joy Luck Club", first novel by Asian-American writer Amy Tan about her mother's life before her immigration to the US
What is mahjong
300
Latino novel by Julia Alvarez spanning more than 30 years in the lives of 4 sisters, beginning with their adult lives in the US and ending with their childhood in the Dominican Republic before the revolution which forced their move to the US.
What is "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents"
300
Author and novel about prep school dropout Holden Caufield who rejects the materialism and "phoniness" he sees around him. Book frequently challenged and associated with conspiracy-theory shootings.
What is J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye"
300
The author and short story that deals with a vague, mild-mannered man who daydreams of heroic situations while going about his boring, everyday chores.
What is James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
400
Epic poem by Alan Ginsberg denouncing what he saw as the destructive forces of capitalism and conformity in the US.
What is "Howl"
400
The game two Jewish boys bond over, even though one is an Orthodox Jew and the other is a Hasidic Jew, in Chaim Potok's novel "The Chosen".
What is baseball
400
Latino-American author whose works dealt with the formation of a Chicana identity, the challenges of being caught between Mexican and Anglo-American cultures, misogynist attitudes in Mexican culture and poverty.
Who is Sandra Cisneros
400
Author of the "Rabbit" series 5 books; 1 of only 3 authors to win a Pulitzer more than once.
Who was John Updike
400
Native-American author who wrote "Love Medicine", the story of an Ojibwa woman, told in reverse chronological order by multiple narrators.
Who was Louise Erdich
500
Best-known work of Jack Keouac, written on one continuous 120 ft. scroll. Was largely autobiographical and described his relationships with other Beat writers.
What is "On the Road"
500
Jewish author who was also an ordained Conservative Jewish Rabbi
Who was Chaim Potok
500
African-American poet, born in Topeka, whose characters often came from the poverty of inner city Chicago where she grew up.
Who is Gwendolyn Brooks
500
Author captured and prisoner of war during WWII; later turned experiences into "Slaughterhouse Five" set between WWII Dresden and the planet Tralfamadore.
Who was Kurt Vonnegut
500
African-American author of "Beloved", the story of an escaped slave who kills her two-year-old daughter rather than allow her to be recaptured and put back into slavery; turned into 1988 movie starring Oprah Winfrey.
Who was Toni Morrison
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