Serge has faith in you... he doesn't want you to quit. But if you must, you must...
1. Liquor and tobacco products carrying the "Victory" brand. 1984, George Orwell
2. Narrator finds it odd that someone would refer to a Christmas tree using expletives. Catcher in the Rye, J. D. Salinger
3. A parlor game that solvers of this puzzle might enjoy leads to a minor character being
denied tenure. Changing Places, David Lodge
4. Does it really matter *who* prevents a bulldozer from completing its task? Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Title character realizes how lucky he is to be an albino. Invisible
Man, H. G. Wells
6. Despite its late recipient's gentlemanliness, a burned letter signed by a repeated
initial is still partly legible. The Hound of the
Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
7. An elderly doorman blames himself for the end of human civilization as we know it,
since it resulted from him once letting in a certain captain to see his financier boss. The War with the Salamanders, Karel Capek
8. A supposedly-intelligent bird writes its name with the first two letters reversed. Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne
9. Narrator realizes that a shovel is more militarily useful than a bayonet. All Quiet on the Western Front, E. M. Remarque
10. A bicycle is securely tied down, to make sure it can't escape. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
11. A high-school teacher has trouble climbing against the current (so to speak). Up the Down Staircase, Bel Kaufman
12. Two men contemplate changing their given names (to the same one), to accommodate their
girlfriends' fantasies. The Importancy of Being Earnest,
Oscar Wilde
13. Garbled Russian is used as teen slang. A Clockwork
Orange, Anthony Burgess
14. River-faring narrator's uncle is hopelessly incompetent at hanging pictures on walls. Three Men In a Boat (To Say Nothing Of the Dog), Jerome K. Jerome
15. Story ends with major character, who had earlier obtained Swiss citizenship, coming
home to hang himself. The Possessed, Dostoyevsky
16. Narrator fails to convince his interlocutor that half the salary at one-third the cost
of living is an improvement. A Connecticut Yankee At
King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain
17. Title character has often seen an X without a Y; but a Y without an X? Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
18. Popular web site named after herein-used term for "humanoid." Gulliver's Travels, Johnathon Swift
19. Painter visiting small town mocks female athlete, said town's chief claim to fame. Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut.
20. Story starts with narrator and his valet arguing about some minor sartorial matter;
ends with narrator conceding. (Serge is indulging in lovable mischief here. Just name the
author) Wodehouse (any of the Jeeves novels)
21. The hawk from the island south of Sicily never actually appears in the story, to the
chagrin of many of the main characters.The Maltese
Falcon, Dashell Hammett
22. The main character finally gets to make love to his friend, but she doesn't marry him,
evidentally preferring to commit suicide with her boyfriend.
Sophie's Choice, William Styron
© Copyright S.E. 2001
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