Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of A Nation Rising; America's Hidden History; and Don't Know Much About(R) History, which spent thirty-five consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 1.7 million copies, and gave rise to his phenomenal Don't Know Much About(R) series for adults and children. A resident of New York City and Dorset, Vermont, Davis frequently appears on national television and radio and has been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered. He blogs regularly at www.dontknowmuch.com.
In this latest addition to Kenneth Davis's popular "Don't Know Much About" series, he and daughter Jenny quiz readers about writers, books, Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, famous first and last lines, and other literary trivia. The book's scope is broad, with selections ranging from "Children's Classics" to "Beowulf" and "Fictional First Ladies." The Davises provide questions, answers, and a summary paragraph for each category but don't order the material in any predictable way, sandwiching Agatha Christie between Kafka and Melville, a technique that forces each entry to stand in isolation. Some of the questions are true or false; others ask readers to identify a character, book, play, poem, or movie. Meant to make learning about literature entertaining, this guide should refresh memories and may entice readers into exploring some of the books they always meant to check out. However, unlike Kenneth Davis's earlier book on history, objective quizzes about great literature only capture a small dimension of the reading experience. Recommended for large public collections.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
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