American Novels

Go Set a Watchman

A 2006 biography by Charles Shields claims that this novel was the last in a planned trilogy that would have included a novella called The Long Goodbye. A passage in this novel discusses a "careless indictment" that allows a character to win an acquittal for a one-armed boy. The author's lawyer Tonja Carter claimed that its author was "happy as hell" with this novel's publication despite the author likely suffering from (*) dementia at the time of its publication. The protagonist of this novel has a brother who died of a heart attack at the age of 28, and finds a racist pamphlet called "The Black Plague" when she returns to Maycomb, Alabama. For 10 points, what novel published in 2014 might have been an early draft of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird?

The Sound and the Fury

A character in this novel frequently laments the smell of honeysuckle and dislikes his brother-in-law Herbert Head. That character thinks about convincing his father that he committed incest with his sister. This novel features a flashback to Damuddy's funeral and a depiction of Reverend Shegog's Easter sermon. This novel opens with a character looking for lost golf balls with (*) Luster, and a character in it slaps his sister for getting her drawers muddy. That sister loses her virginity to Dalton Ames in this novel, and Quentin drowns himself at the end of its second section. For 10 points, name this William Faulkner novel about the Compson family.

The Tin Drum

A character in this novel takes comfort in his grandmother's collection of four skirts, which his grandfather Joseph briefly uses to hide from the police. That character from this novel is called "Jesus" by a gang of street children, "The Dusters." After finding a detached finger in a field, this novel's protagonist is confined to a mental asylum for the murder of Sister Dorothea. This novel is followed by (*) Cat and Mouse and Dog Years in its author's Danzig Trilogy. The main character of this novel has a scream that can shatter glass and decides to stop growing at the age of three. For 10 points, Oskar Matzerath lives through World War II in what novel by Günter Grass?

The Great Gatsby

A machine that can extract the juice of two hundred oranges in half an hour can be found in the kitchen of a house where each Friday, five crates of oranges and lemons arrive as supplies for cocktails. Bearing in mind that there are probably at least 100 fruits in a crate, that this is the (*) NSC and there are no comp math questions, and that the cocktails are consumed by the pianist Klipspringer, Owl Eyes, and other attendees of parties on West Egg, for 10 points, name this novel in which those parties are thrown by a lonely millionaire who stares at the green light at the end of Daisy Buchanan's dock.

Their Eyes Were Watching God

A passage in this novel compares love to the sea, since "it's uh movin' thing" and "it's different with every shore." This novel opens by noting how "the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation" while describing "Ships at a distance [that] have every man's wish on board." In this novel, which was written while its author was on a Guggenheim fellowship in Haiti, the protagonist exclaims "So this was a marriage!" as she muses on a blossoming (*) pear tree at the age of sixteen. This novel is framed as a conversation with Pheoby Watson, during which the protagonist recounts shooting her rabies-infected husband. Its title follows the line "They seemed to be staring at the dark" while the protagonist is sheltered from a hurricane with her lover Tea Cake. For 10 points, name this novel about Janie Crawford by Zora Neale Hurston.

Catch-22

After receiving news of her husband's death, a wife in this novel happily collects monthly payments and moves to Michigan. In this novel, Dreedle and Peckham's rivalry is mediated by Ex-P.F.C. Wintergreen, and Kid Sampsons' death motivates McWatt's suicide. A character resembling Henry Fonda is promoted to (*) major in this novel, in which another character sells chocolate-covered cotton as candy. Milo Minderbinder and Major Major Major appear in this novel in which Colonel Cathcart's squadron flies more and more missions. For 10 points, name this Joseph Heller novel about Yossarian whose title describes a bureaucratic paradox.

As I Lay Dying

In Jesmyn Ward's novel Salvage the Bones, Esch Batiste received a grade of an A after reading this work since she "answered the hardest question right." A character in this novel receives a horse from Quick in exchange for clearing land at night. In this novel, a character who fights off buzzards blames Dr. Peabody for a woman's death. Another character in this novel is sent to a mental institution after burning down (*) Gillespie's barn. Reverend Whitfield is revealed to be a character's real father in this novel where MacGowan gives Dewey Dell fake abortion pills. In this novel, a flood sweeps away a coffin built by Cash. For 10 points, name this novel about the Bundren family's journey to bury their mother Addie, written by William Faulkner.

Cat's Cradle

In a short chapter of this novel, a character states that if the narrator should ever run into Albert Schweitzer, he should tell him "you are not my hero." This novel concludes with the narrator reading a note stating a man's wish to climb a mountain named for Earl McCabe, writing a history of human stupidity, and then thumbing "You Know Who." During an airshow in this novel commemorating the "Hundred Martyrs to Democracy," a plane crashes into a (*) dictator's palace, causing an apocalypse. This novel's characters include Papa Monzano, a dictator whose death fulfills a prophecy made in The Books of Bokonon. The scientist Felix Bokonon creates a deadly substance called Ice-9 in, for 10 points, what novel by Kurt Vonnegut?

Gone with the Wind

In a sketch parodying this novel, theme music plays after each title drop, prompting the response "that's real pretty but it don't answer my question," and its protagonist says "I saw it in the window and just couldn't resist" about a prop designed by Bob Mackie. This novel takes its title from a poem by Ernest Dowson, and that poem's character of Cynara narrates a parody of it by (*)) Alice Randall. Grandpa Abe gives a copy of this book to the star of its film adaptation in a Simpsons flashback. In a Carol Burnett Show sketch, the protagonist of this novel descends a staircase in a homemade dress that still has a curtain rod in it, and she cuts off its most famous line by slamming the door on Harvey Korman's spoof of Clark Gable in the middle of the line "frankly my dear, I don't gi-" For 10 points, name this novel by Margaret Mitchell.

Invisible Man

In one part of this novel, a stakeholder for the state college meets a man who accidentally impregnated his own daughter. The protagonist of this novel gets sent downtown to talk about "The Woman Question" after receiving a leg chain from Brother Tarp. This novel's narrator works under Kimbro and (*) Lucius Brockway while at Liberty Paints after being expelled from college by Dr. Bledsoe. This novel opens with blindfolded black youths donning boxing gloves and pummeling each other in a "battle royal." For 10 points, name this novel whose unnamed narrator notes how his skin color makes others refuse to see him, written by Ralph Ellison.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

In one part of this novel, the protagonist takes clothes and goods from a house floating down a river with a dead man in it. A man in this novel pretends to be a preacher from London named Harvey Wilks in order to get the gold from Peter Wilks's will. In another scene in this novel, the protagonist brings a Bible to Sophia, allowing her to run away with Harney, triggering a fight between the (*) Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons. This novel's protagonist fakes his death to run away from his father and runs into a worker for his tutor, Miss Watson. For 10 points, name this novel whose title character helps the slave Jim escape while floating down the Mississippi River, a novel by Mark Twain.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

In response to this novel, William Gilmore Simms wrote a novel set during the Revolutionary War called The Sword and the Distaff. James Baldwin wrote that this novel ignores humanity's "beauty, dread, and power" and compared it to Native Son in the essay "Everybody's Protest Novel." In 1933, Disney released a film titled Mickey's Mellerdrammer that was inspired by (*) "shows" named after this novel that were popular in the late-19th century. Abraham Lincoln supposedly called the author of this novel "the little lady who started this great war." For 10 points, name this abolitionist novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

To Kill a Mockingbird

In this novel, Mrs. Merriweather mentions how the Mruna tribe lives in "sin and squalor" while praising the missionary J. Grimes Everett. Aunt Alexandra chastises the protagonist of this novel for wearing breeches instead of dresses. After sneaking out of the house, the narrator of this novel discusses bartering hickory nuts with the leader of a (*) lynch mob, Mr. Cunningham, while Dill and her brother watch on. That lynch mob in this novel is after Tom Robinson, who is found guilty of raping Mayella Ewell despite being defended by Atticus Finch. For 10 points, name this novel narrated by Scout, the best-known work of Harper Lee.

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

In this novel, a character expresses a desire to eat some "breadfruit pasta" during a journey to collect supplies. This novel's narrator tries a "nicotine-rich" cigar while in a character's library, and observes the mysterious Latin phrase mobilis in mobili on his kitchen utensils. The plot of this novel begins after Farragut offers $2,000 to anyone who can find a mysterious animal using their spyglasses while on board the (*) Abraham Lincoln. This novel's narrator is served by the Flemish Conseil. In this novel, the harpooner Ned Land and the academic Pierre Aronnax escape a certain vehicle when they encounter a storm called a Maelstrom. For 10 points, what novel about the submarine Nautilus commanded by Captain Nemo was written by Jules Verne?

The Awakening

One character in this novel plays a Chopin impromptu while the protagonist reads a letter from a man who fled to Mexico. This novel's protagonist is contrasted with "mother-women" exemplified by Madame Ratignolle. A parrot in this novel repeatedly says (*) "Allez vous-en! Allez vous-en!" [AH-lay voo-ZAW! AH-lay voo-ZAW!] to the protagonist's husband. Out of dissatisfaction with her marriage to Léonce, this novel's protagonist has an affair with Alcée Arobin and falls in love with Robert Lebrun. After swimming out into the Gulf Mexico, Edna Pontellier drowns at the end of—for 10 points—what novel by Kate Chopin?

East of Eden

Stephen George claims that a character in this work is 'the essence of cruelty'. That character in this work asserts that she would rather be a 'dog than a human' and calls men who frequent a brothel 'gray slugs'. One character from this novel burns $15,000 that their father rejected, while another recalls stealing a book from Samuel Hamilton while reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. In this novel, Lee discusses translations of the word 'timshel' with Samuel and Adam, and Aron enlists in World War One after discovering that his mother Cathy Ames owns a brothel. For 10 points, name this novel in which the Trask family moves to California, a work by John Steinbeck.

Sister Carrie

The title character in this novel receives her coveted jacket after her attempts to return twenty dollars are rebuffed. One important conversation in this novel takes place over asparagus and sirloin, where a character persuades the title character to move in with him. This novel ends with a man using a (*) gas jet to commit suicide. The protagonist of this work also uses the last name Wheeler while married, and as her career improves, her husband, George Hurstwood, descends into poverty and gambling. This novel's protagonist, an aspiring actress, meets Charles Drouet on a train to Chicago. For 10 points, name this novel by Theodore Dreiser about the titular girl from rural Wisconsin.

Moby Dick

This character is "the Shaker God incarnated" according to a man who believes himself to be the archangel Gabriel. This character becomes a prophecy's first hearse during three chapters titled "The Chase." This is the main character discussed during a novel's nine "gams," or meetings. As a reward for the first person to see this character, a man offers a gold doubloon that he nails to a mast. Before accidentally killing himself, that man tells this character "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!" The protagonist uses Queequeg's coffin as a lifeboat after this character destroys the Pequod. For 10 points, name this giant whale pursued by Captain Ahab in a novel by Herman Melville.

The Grapes of Wrath

This novel cautions the reader to "fear the time when the bombs stop falling while the bomber lives -- for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died." This novel's mostly-odd interchapters, which its author called "pace changers," include one adopting the persona of a profiteering used car salesman. The narrator of this novel observes that "in the souls of the people, the" title objects are "filling and growing heavy," in a chapter preceding one in which a policeman bashes the (*) skull of a suspected Communist with a pickaxe handle. The protagonist of this novel promises his mother that "Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there," before leaving to take up his ex-preacher friend's cause organizing workers. In this novel's final scene, a man starving in a barn is breastfed by Rose of Sharon. For 10 points, name this novel about the new life of the impoverished Joad family in California, by John Steinbeck.

Frankenstein

This novel lends its title to an Ahmed Saadawi book about junk-dealer Hadi set in Baghdad during the American occupation. A mime named Thomas Potter Cook popularized this novel in a stage adaptation where he dressed in a blue body stocking. A recent annotated edition of this novel "for scientists" is introduced by Guillermo del Toro and has an illustration of the (*) Villa Diodati, where the story was conceived during the "Year Without a Summer" alongside John Polidori's "The Vampyre." The iconic version of this novel's anti-hero first appeared in a 1931 Boris Karloff film. A humorous take on this novel has Igor assisting its "young" title character in a Mel Brooks comedy. For 10 points, name this novel about a synthetic monster by Mary Shelley.

Gravity's Rainbow

This novel references a real-life one-time performance of Benny Goodman on BBC Radio to contextualize events within the plot. The beginning of this novel follows Pirate Prentice working to solve a mystery involving an employee of the organization ACHTUNG. Later in this novel, another character finds a pattern in the aforementioned mystery that follows the (*) Poisson distribution. This novel opens with the line "A screaming comes across the sky" and ends with Gottfried being sacrificed in a rocket with serial number 00000. For 10 points, name this work in which Lieutenant Tyrone Slothrop's sexual encounters in London are always followed with V-2 rocket strikes, a novel written by Thomas Pynchon.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

This novel's narrator is annoyed by a character singing "Does the Spearmint Lose Its Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight?" A character named Harding in this novel often boasts about his wife's large breasts. At the outset of this novel, the narrator promises that "it's the truth even if it didn't happen." In this novel, Charles Cheswick drowns himself in a swimming pool, and another character cuts his (*)) throat because he's worried his mother will discover that he lost his virginity to a prostitute. This novel's narrator breaks a window with a control panel after using a pillow to smother the lobotomized main character, a boisterous inmate who engages in a power struggle with the "Big Nurse," Ratched. For 10 points, name this Ken Kesey novel about Randle McMurphy and the other inhabitants of a mental asylum.

Beloved

This novel's protagonist has a "chokecherry tree" on her back. A character in this novel is called "starved for color" and owns a quilt that's colorless except for two orange squares. The first appearance of this novel's title character begins: "A fully dressed woman walked out of the water"; later in this novel, she coerces a man with a "tobacco tin lodged in his chest" to have sex with her. That man is one of three (*) Pauls who live at Sweet Home with this novel's protagonist. This novel is set in a haunted, "spiteful" house in Cincinnati, 124 Bluestone Road. Sethe drowns the title character as a baby to prevent her from becoming a slave in—for 10 points—what novel by Toni Morrison?

The Turn of the Screw

This work's protagonist is referred to as "St. Ottery" by a perennially filthy woman with a "Scots curl" in a Joyce Carol Oates story titled for the "accursed inhabitants" of this work's setting. A girl turns "common and almost ugly" before rejecting this work's protagonist. A boy in this work denies stealing letters at school, instead claiming to have "said things" to "those [he] liked." This work's protagonist sees a (*) red-headed "gentleman" who is described as "much too free" by Mrs. Grose. At the end of this work, Miles deems Peter Quint a "devil" before dying in the governess's arms. For 10 points, name this supernatural novella by Henry James.

Little Women

girl in this novel becomes a governess for the well-to-do King family. This novel's tenth chapter recounts the meetings of a book club inspired by The Pickwick Papers. At the end, one of its protagonists starts an experimental boys' school with Professor Bhaer. In this novel's first chapter, its main characters reminisce about a charades-like game based on John Bunyan's (*) Pilgrim's Progress. Mr. Laurence gives one of its title characters a piano. In this novel, the Hummels are given Christmas breakfast by a family led by Marmee, whose daughter Beth dies of scarlet fever. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March are the title girls of—for 10 points—what Louisa May Alcott novel?