Before They Were Famous: Do You Know the Early Jobs of These Authors?
Welcome to Lit Trivia, the Book Review’s regular quiz about literary culture. This week’s installment salutes the tenacity of the literary strivers who worked a variety of jobs before finding success as novelists. In the five multiple-choice questions below, tap or click on the answer you think is correct. After the last question, you’ll find links to some of their most popular works.
1 of 5
Which author worked as a business writer — creating such works as “Telecommunications and You” for IBM — before hitting the New York Times best-seller list with “The Joy Luck Club” in 1989?
2 of 5
Which author worked as a night manager at the Kenmore Hall Hotel on Manhattan’s East 23rd Street before going on to publish several novels – including “Miss Lonelyhearts” in 1933 and “The Day of the Locust” in 1939?
3 of 5
Which author worked as a nurse before publishing “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” and enjoying a career as an extremely successful mystery writer?
4 of 5
Which author worked in a range of jobs — including as a potato chips inspector — before becoming a popular science fiction novelist with works that include “Parable of the Sower” in 1993 and “Parable of the Talents” in 1998?
5 of 5
Before publishing “The Metamorphosis” in 1915, this author was a co-owner of a European asbestos factory. Who is it?