The fifth annual Feastival of Books will take place virtually on Saturday, August 21, 10 am-5 pm. For information about this bibliophilic event, click sdfestivalofbooks.com.
Honoring this great cultural event, I share with you a quiz of “Perfect Matches,” from my bouncing baby book, Richard Lederer’s Ultimate Book of Literary Trivia.
Match each real or imaginary person in the left-hand column with his or her perfect literary title in the right-hand column. Let’s start with a cast of imaginary people, such as Apollo, The Sun Also Rises; King Midas, Goldfinger; and Barney the Dinosaur, The Color Purple.
| 1. Captain Ahab | Arms and the Man |
| 2. Ben-Hur | The Big Sleep |
| 3. Bugs Bunny | Chariots of Fire |
| 4. Chicken Little | A Farewell to Arms |
| 5. Count Dracula | Fences |
| 6. Lemuel Gulliver | For Whom the Bell Tolls |
| 7. Lady Macbeth | Giant |
| 8. Popeye | The Jungle |
| 9. Hester Prynne | The King Must Die |
| 10. Quasimodo | Magnificent Obsession |
| 11. Tom Sawyer | Marley and Me |
| 12. Ebenezer Scrooge | Rabbit Run |
| 13. Tarzan | The Red Badge of Courage |
| 14. Rip Van Winkle | Skyfall |
| 15. Venus de Milo | White Fang |
Answers
- Magnificent Obsession 2. Chariots of Fire 3. Rabbit Run 4. Skyfall 5. White Fang 6. Giant 7. The King Must Die 8. Arms and the Man 9. The Red Badge of Courage 10. For Whom the Bell Tolls 11. Fences Marley and Me 13. The Jungle 14. The Big Sleep 15. A Farewell to Arms
Now match each real-life person with his or her perfect book title. Examples: Yogi Berra, Catcher in the Rye, and Amelia Earhart, Gone Girl.
| 1. John and Priscilla Alden | The Birds |
| 2. Louis Armstrong | Black Beauty |
| 3. Neil Armstrong | The Bluest Eye |
| 4. Benedict Arnold | The Boys in the Band |
| 5. John Jay Audobon | Brave New World |
| 6. The Beatles | The Cherry Orchard |
| 7. Jeff Bezos | Come Blow Your Horn |
| 8. Camilla Parker Bowles | Crime and Punishment |
| 9. Al Capone | Deliverance |
| 10. Christopher Columbus | An Enemy of the People |
| 11. Thomas Crapper | Game of Thrones |
| 12. Euclid | The Good Earth |
| 13. Anthony Fauci | The Grapes of Wrath |
| 14. W.C. Fields | Heart of Darkness |
| 15. Benjamin Franklin | The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy |
| 16. Jane Goodall | The Iceman Cometh |
| 17. Wayne Gretzky | Jaws |
| 18. Harry and Meghan | The Kite Runner |
| 19. Adolph Hitler | Life of Pi |
| 20. Jay Leno | Lord of the Flies |
| 21. Bruno Mars and Venus Williams | Love Story |
| 22. Willie Mays | Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus |
| 23. Mona Lisa | Moonwalk |
| 24. Moses | The Once and Future King |
| 25. John Muir | The Pilgrim’s Progress |
| 26. Elvis Presley | The Plague |
| 27. Frank Sinatra | Planet of the Apes |
| 28. Neil deGrasse Tyson | The Portrait of a Lady |
| 29. George Washington | Travels with Charley |
| 30. Vanessa Williams | Up from Slavery |
Answers
- Pilgrim’s Progress 2. Come Blow Your Horn 3. Moonwalk 4. An Enemy of the People 5. The Birds 6. The Boys in the Band 7. Deliverance 8. Travels With Charlie 9. Crime and Punishment 10. Brave New World 11. Game of Thrones 12. Life of Pi 13. The Plague 14. The Grapes of Wrath 15. The Kite Runner 16. Planet of the Apes 17. The Iceman Cometh 18. Love Story 19. Heart of Darkness 20. Jaws 21. Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus 22. Lord of the Flies 23. The Portrait of a Lady 24. Up From Slavery 25. The Good Earth 26. The Once and Future King 27. The Bluest Eye 28. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 29. The Cherry Orchard 30. Black Beauty