The 1980s. While some of us remember it as the decade when the accomplishments of Chilliwack at last gained recognition in the U.S., perhaps there are some who remember the literary highlights. Stephen King, for example, paved the way for our brave new world of kewl spelling by writing Pet Sematary. Andy Rooney, bafflingly, published four best-selling books.
There was one author who, within the decade, hit the year-end top ten in fiction and (in another year) the year-end top ten in nonfiction books, as reported by Publisher's Weekly. The writer did it with different titles, natch, and in different years within the decade (in fact, he accomplished this rare double feat within the years of the Reagan administration).
The author still writes big-selling books today.
Who is the author? For extra credit, what now-famous American was the main person profiled in the nonfiction hit? For extra, extra credit, what was the title of the book?
First correct answer posted to comments wins a mangled Columbia House cassette of Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion. No Googling or going through that ancient stack of the New York Times Review of Books behind the recliner in the den. One guess per comment, but post as often as you like.
Posted by BT at September 05, 2003 09:52 AM**dead crickets**
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 11:06 AMA hint -- one of his fiction bestsellers of the period is set in North Africa.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 11:14 AMI was going to (badly) guess Tom Wolfe.
But not now.
Posted by: teenidol on September 5, 2003 11:19 AMHis mission -- to badly guess where none had guessed before.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 11:20 AMWas Graham Greene prolific in the 80'S? I've only read his older stuff.
Posted by: teenidol on September 5, 2003 11:21 AMI guess if it's just me and you, I should be able to get it eventually, you know infinite number of monkeys thing...
So I'm going to skip down to the extra and extra, extra credit and day Trump and Trump, respectively.
Posted by: teenidol on September 5, 2003 11:24 AM>>day Trump and Trump, respectively.
Should have read:
say Trump and Trump, respectively.
Teenidol -- are you saying that when it's just you and me it's MORE like an infinite number of monkeys than when everyone else is around?
[checks]
Hey, you're right!
Anyway, sorry, Graham Greene was still writing in the eighties, but it's not him. And Trump is an interesting answer for the subject of the book-- in fact, the gentleman in question shares a few features with Trump. I should note, by the way, that the nonfiction book was not a biography, but rather dealt with a specific set of current events of the day, in which a particular man -- who later became so famous that he appeared for a second or two on The Simpsons -- was centrally involved.
One more hint: the author's first big hit came in the late 1970's, and was adapted into a fairly big-deal motion picture.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 12:09 PMPeter Benchley?
Posted by: Scott on September 5, 2003 12:25 PMa solid guess, but no
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 12:29 PMI am puzzling over the myriad possibilities, but in the meantime: like poor Finnegan, Publishers Weekly has no apostrophe.
In fact, nothing should have an apostrophe. Apostrophes cause confusion and sow discord, provide little if any clarity and provide smug know-a-littles with unearned glows of superiority. Apostrophe delenda est!
Alt'ernative'ly: apostrophe's every'where!
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 12:48 PMAs an interim measure, I would agree to keeping apostrophes confined to unpronouncable names in fantsy novels.
Posted by: Soren deSelby on September 5, 2003 12:55 PMWhoops, sorry, that should have said "fant'sy".
"Agreed" murmured the green-haired warrior of the B'hth Caud. "My shieldmates shall celebrate the rite of c'a'u'gh-c'au'gh in celebration of this wise decree." Then he withdrew his ancient twelve-bladed L'ufa from the still-twitching form of the would-be assassin, and wryly observed, "But we still need to decide about hyphens."
Now, back to the quiz. Another hint about the movie adaptation of our author's breakout fiction hit: Donald Sutherland was in it.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 01:01 PMRobert Ludlum. Or John Lecarre. I know that's two guesses, technically, but I beg a waiver since I can't really keep them apart in my head. Plus, only one of them can be right. . .
Posted by: Scott on September 5, 2003 01:06 PMIt was neither, though those are both reasonable guesses.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 01:08 PMKen Follett? Don't know what the non-fiction book would be.
Posted by: Soren deSelby on September 5, 2003 01:13 PMCarl Hiaasen or Carl Hiiasen? That's just one guess, but I dont really know how to spell Carls name.
Posted by: Scott on September 5, 2003 01:21 PMI like Follett. I'm thinking it's "Eye of the Needle."
Posted by: teenidol on September 5, 2003 01:25 PMIt's not Carly-come-lately Hiaasen (one i and two a's), who didn't really start hitting the bestseller lists until the 90s.
No, Soren has the answer -- Welsh author Ken Follett, whose thriller The Eye of the Needle first made his name, is the writer we are looking for. In the 80s he had fiction bestsellers like The Man from St. Petersburg and Lie Down with Lions. And in 1983 he published an account of a set of events that had happened four years prior. And therein lies our extra credit...
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 01:28 PMBy the way, I really prefer the way the Spanish say surnames (when they are refering to more than one with stated name). Whereas, in English one would say "The Smiths" or "The Londrigenses", the Spanish use a plural article and don't mess with the name: "Los Smith" and "Los Londrigens." As one who has dealt with "James's" and "Wilkinses" I appreciate the cleaner Romance solution.
Posted by: teenidol on September 5, 2003 01:30 PMHm, a book about the Iran hostage crisis? About the failed rescue?
Posted by: Soren deSelby on September 5, 2003 01:32 PMYou are close. But the cigar is not quite yours for the smoking.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 02:35 PMCan't believe it's still open here---Alex Haley? A poor guess but I did go to a trendy resturuant for lunch and had wine. Dammit! there goes my 10-way tie for Honorable Unmentionables. Kudos to you, BoxJam!
What the hell is box jam anyway? Is it like throat butter? Smegma? Toe cheese?
Posted by: bootsy2000 on September 5, 2003 02:55 PMI just remembered to look up the quiz. Man, it's getting ugly in here.
On Wings of Eagles chronicled the supposedly daring rescue from Iran of employees of Ross Perot's company, which at the time was either EDS, GM-E, or Perot Systems, not sure which.
Box that, jam.
Posted by: Jonathan on September 5, 2003 03:50 PMBox that up and mail it to Reform Party Headquarters! Indeed, Jonathan arrives in time to nab the extra-credit-cookie. On Wings of Eagles was the title we were looking for.
A note: those of you who are interested in guest-quizmastering later this month (specifically September 26th) should email me. Theresa and I will be moving house that day, and I wouldn't want such a trivial affair to interrupt these hebdomadal rites.
Posted by: BT on September 5, 2003 04:35 PMSheesh.
Posted by: BoxJam on September 5, 2003 10:04 PM