Don't Know Much About® Literature: What You Need to Know but Never Learned About Great Books and Authors—Fascinating Facts and Quizzes on Classic and Modern Literature

by Kenneth C. Davis

From Homer to Harry Potter, from Chaucer to Charlotte's Web, acompelling book of quizzes on history's most influential literary worksand writers

Did a whale named "Mocha Dick" inspire Melville's masterpiece?Who was the first poet to speak at a presidential inauguration?Which French-speaking high school football star shook up the literary world?Do you freeze when someone mentions Faulkner? When the conversation turns to the Odyssey, do you want to take a hike? Have no fear. For years, Kenneth C. Davis's New York Times bestselling Don't Know Much About® books have enlightened and enthralled us with a winning blend of fascinating facts and wonderfully irreverent fun. Now he sets his sights on our literary IQ in Don't Know Much About® Literature. With this rich treasure trove of knowledge and intriguing information about the world's great books and authors, Kenneth Davis and his daughter, Jenny, demystify Dracula, capture Kafka, and help you brush up on your Brontë in the inimitable and endlessly entertaining Don't Know Much About® style.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Reference, History, Trivia, Literature, Literary Criticism

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of the Don't Know Much About® series of books and audios for adults and children. Don't Know Much About® History, the first title in the series, became a New York Times bestseller in 1991 and remained on the paperback list for 35 consecutive weeks. It has since been revised several times and now has more than 1.6 million copies in print. The 30th anniversary edition of the book was published with a new preface, "From an Era of Broken Trust to an Era of Broken Democracy."

Davis is, according to Publishers Weekly, "a go-to guy for historical insight and analysis."

AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY also became a New York Times bestseller. A NATION RISING also uses dramatic narratives to tell the "stories your textbooks left out." His book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR (May 5, 2015) was called "searing" analysis by Publishers Weekly.

Kenneth C. Davis’s success aptly makes the case that Americans don’t hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. Davis’s approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths, setting the record straight, and always remembering that fun is not a four-word letter word.

His IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY, FOUR PRESIDENTS, AND FIVE BLACK LIVES looks at the lives of five people enslaved by four of America's most famous Presidents and the role of slavery in American history and the presidency. In May 2018, MORE DEADLY THAN WAR: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War was published.

STRONGMAN: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy was published by Holt. It was named among the best books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Post.

In November 2022 GREAT SHORT BOOKS: A Year of Reading--Briefly was published by SCribner. A compendium of 58 great short works Davis read during the pandemic lock down, it is a joyous celebration of reading.

Coming in October 2024 is THE WORLD IN BOOKS: 52 WORKS OF GREAT SHORT NONFICTION. It is an accessible and comprehensive guide to some of the most influential and important works of nonfiction, from the earliest days of writing to contemporary times. Each entry includes information about the writers behind these consequential books and the time in which they lived.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

it took me and greg about eight months to get through this one, due to misplacing the book or boredom or "better things to do" (can you imagine??) but today we finished it and celebrated by eating expensive birthday chocolates (thanks, elizabeth!!!) and watching the man in the yellow shirt sleep facedown on the rock. stay classy, woodside!!

this book was not as good as who killed iago (click this, alfonso!) which was our last book of literary challenges shared on sunday dorkouts (and let us not speak of those cards and my devastating loss)(and i just realized goodreads.com deleted my review of these, along with several other things that are not technically books - wankers). i think this one was less fun because it was easier than the other book, and a lot of the quizzes were true/false, which any third grader can tell you are easy to guess correctly just by paying attention to the question's phrasing.

greg probably won this one, too, overall (who knew he was so knowledgeable about the psalms??) but he got zero questions right about chinua achebe because he (greg) is totally racist. seriously. so racist.

a fun pasttime for nerds, but there are more challenging versions out there. find them.

come to my blog!

[Manybooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

While upon having read a number of the more vehemently negative and critical Amazon reviews of Kenneth C. Davis' Don't Know Much About Literature (and unfortunately only AFTER I had already downloaded it on my Kindle for Ipad, silly and foolish me), I certainly did not much expect to greatly enjoy this book, but I also did not really expect Don't Know Much About Literature to be so blatantly haphazard and painfully, annoyingly unorganised (really not according to any true system at all, such as chronologically, according to literary genres or even geographically, but simply seeming as though the author had just thrown in genres, book titles, authors etc. as they came to him, without rhyme or reason, not to mention that there also are hardly ANY actual and in any manner academically relevant hard fact information and details featured, just a few lame words, followed by silly and often rather mundane and useless quizzes before another equally annoying and intellectually inferior, badly penned and uninteresting section on some random author and/or random literature "type" is presented, and without adequate source acknowledgements and no bibliography, no detailed list of books for further study and research at that). And therefore, and truly, only a one star ranking at best for Don't Know Much About Literature, as this is probably the absolutely and hands down worst tome on so-called world literature I have EVER read, period, a book that aside from its above mentioned woeful and frustrating lack of organisation is also totally and utterly devoid of reason with regard to presenting in ANY MANNER a balanced view (for a book on global literature, on global authors over the centuries that does NOT bother to include specific sections on William Shakespeare, 18th century satirical novels, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich von Schiller, Thomas Mann and at the very least for Canadian literature, the novels of Margaret Atood is in my personal opinion total and utter TRASH, as also and most annoyingly, Don't Know Much About Literature is indeed just too USA heavy). And really, sadly, not only can and will I not even remotely recommend Don't Know Much About Literature to anyone, my personal and academic, my intellectual frustration with Kenneth C. Davis is so massive and angry at present that this tome, that Don't Know Much About Literature, is also one of my very very few one star rankings where I would dearly love to be able to make use of negative numbers, where I would want and desire to grant a negative ranking of minus three if not even minus five stars.

[Irmak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Genel hatlarıyla baktığımda keyifle okuduğum bir kitap oldu Edebiyattan Pek Anlamam.

Bilmediğim bir çok şey öğrendim ünlü yazarlar ve klasikleşmiş kitaplar hakkında. Ama bunları öğrenirken spoiler yediğim zamanlar da oldu.

Örneğin;
’ Shelley’nin romanında Victor Frankenstein, canavarın evleneceği bir gelin yaratır mı ?’

Bu sorunun cevabı ne olursa olsun bunu okuyarak öğrenmeyi tercih ederim ben. Evet bu tarz sizin için spoiler olacağını düşündüğünüz soruları atlama imkanınız var kitabı okurken. Ama ne yazık ki yaratılışımda önümde cevabı olan bir soruyu atlamak yok. Merakım daha baskın geliyor ve ben kendimi o sorunun cevabına bakarken buluyorum. Yine de siz başarabilirseniz bu soruları atlayabilirsiniz.

Bilgi yarışması soruları tarzında sorular vardı kitapta ve dediğim gibi bir sürü bilmediğim şey öğrendim. Sorulardan önce verilen açıklayıcı paragrafları daha çok sevdim orası ayrı konu tabi.

Çok derinlemesine işlenmiş bir kitap değil. Yine de yazarlar ve kitaplar hakkında bir şeyler öğrenmek istiyorsanız okuması keyifli, kitabın anlatımı keyifli.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I don't feel like I learned anything new.

[Lenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book at the library hoping to learn a little more about the classics and the authors who wrote them. This book did not even include some of the basics that I learned in high school English. Instead, it gave very little (useless) information and then quized the reader on trivia that would not be known by a reader who "doesn't know much about literature."

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting trivia about authors and books, but not much depth. I don't think it was supposed to be a deep read though. There was a lot of trivia I knew and some I didn't, some authors I hadn't event heard of, but many I was familiar with. It was fun to learn a few bits a trivia I didn't already know, but this wouldn't be high on my must read list.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

What made Don't Know Much About History: Everything You Need to Know About American History but Never Learned good was its irreverent yet balanced tone. Unlike many history books, it didn’t just focus on the sunny side, but also didn’t villanize any more than necessary. It was one of the only history books I’ve read that really highlighted that everyone has always been as hapless as they are today.

The problem with Don’t Know Much About Literature is that Davis totally switched up his approach. The conversational and light-hearted tone is the same, but instead of a chronological outline (which, admittedly, doesn’t work as well with all of literature as it does with United States history), he went with a weird quiz book approach. There is a different entry every other page: a paragraph about the writer or topic, then a handful of quiz questions about them. Each treatment is very shallow. It basically tells what their major works are and an interesting tidbit or two about them, rather than actually talking about their work.

I’m going to go ahead and say it. This is one for the poopers. Take it with you to the john. I’ll let you decide what to do with it when you get there.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having never read one of these "Don't Know Much About..." books, I was unprepared for the format. Each chapter (if one could call them chapters) is given a small blurb about the topic, whether specific to a particular book title, author, or subject (such as, working or catchy titles, epitaphs, or Nobel Prize winners), and follows with a handful of quiz questions (occasionally true/false). The backside of that page then supplies the answers. This setup made reading through the book go quicker than expected, but also allowed for glazing of the eyes, or skipping of pages if I wasn't all that interested in seeing the answers.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this would be more of an encyclopedic reference to great literature. Instead, the summary of each book was entirely too short, and the trivia test were distracting and misleading. I would have preferred a lot more books, a tiny bit longer summaries and lots of facts and true trivia – no quizzes. I just hope all the false questions don’t stick in my head as facts for the literature.

[Iamabibliophile · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not think this was a trivia book. I was expecting a book with synopses of great works of literature not quizzes.

[Nostalgia Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars

I've liked how Davis has set up his previous books, in their question-and-answer format, so I figured that's what this one would be. But I was very disappointed.

It's made up entirely of short trivia quizzes (4-6 questions usually), with a paragraph introduction/summary of the work or author. Of course there were some authors and works that I did learn some things about, but the answers to the quiz questions were just short explanations, not the longer, in-depth, usually comprehensive answers like in previous books. It was a quick half-day read, not a useful book of tidbits to ration for quick reading times like other DKMA books I've read.

This also made many of the questions about authors and works that I know, have read, or enjoy pretty easy to answer, and I didn't really learn anything new. The only thing that it really warranted was a good reminder of lots of classics that I want to read as well as some quirky, authorly tidbits (Steinbeck's "Pigasus" logo was my favorite).

It was more of a middle school read, good for introducing students into the world of classical literature for English class. I have a feeling even adults who "don't know much about literature" would find the simplicity of this a bit degrading.

[Annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. The introduction said it best. "This is a book that will have book readers gloating as they prove just how much they know--or have them sheepishly heading back to the stacks to round out their literary educations." File this gloater under the former category. Which isn't to say I aced this. There's so much I don't know (not too inclined to "head back to the stacks" though). And so much I've forgotten. I aced the quiz on Stephen King, of course. And guys, you misspelled his name. Check page 183.

[Ludmilla]

Kime Göre Neye Göre "Need to Know"? Mesela Oliver Twist'in mi David Copperfield'ın mı bilmemkaç yılındaki uyarlamasının 5 Oscar aldığını bilmek gerekir mi? Ve buna benzer tonla saçmalık. Kitap okumuyorsanız ya da yaz kış elinizde güzel dursun diye bir kitap taşıyorsanız, evet, bu kitabı okuyabilirsiniz. Böylece biraz hava yapabilir, imajı kurtarabilirsiniz. Ama gerçek bir okursanız verdiğiniz paraya yazık. Uzak durun.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I typically devour books about books and I have enjoyed Davis’s other books, the “quiz” format of DKMA Literature just didn’t work. It was literally too trivial and didn’t offer any quality information on literary topics or authors. I browsed a few topics that caught my interest, but the configuration made any content meaningless.

[Mary Van Winkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun and easy fact/trivia book, I breezed through it in a few days. I wish the author bios were a little longer but I think the few paragraphs given to each subject contributed to the ease of reading. Along with authors and their literature, there was information on poems, plays, the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes. Every other section had me looking up more information which I think is the best testiment to this book.

[Vanessa Dargain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know JACK about literature , not even in my favorite genres
( children fantasy and mystery ) .
This guy , on the other , is quite the opposite .
It was fun to read his short book and laugh ( at myself ) about how much
I don't know about literature . The only page in his book that made me
feel slightly literarily adept as a reader was page 203 . Because I answered
all 5 questions correctly . Other bookworms should also try their luck .

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in a big pile of unread books and started in. As a former English teacher, I felt I did know some stuff about literature. I did pretty well on most of the list, too, but also learned new things from every one. What a quick and amusing way to learn quite a lot about a subject you enjoy. I think I'll try to find some of the others, too, and will definitely look into the kids' books.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun Q&A

[Paulette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had the book for a long time but just read through it and picked up ideas for what to read next!

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting

A lot of the trivia I already knew, so it was mildly interesting, but not as enlightening as I would have liked it to be.

[Jan Stanton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fun read!! It was a quick read and YES, I did learn a lot of fun facts.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the pop quizzes in this book.... I also added quite a few new titles and unknown authors to my reading list.

[Mustafa · Rating 1 out of 5]

First pages tells you to stop reading. Anyway, I read it and if there was 0 stars I would give it.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little book that I read in about 3 hours. I’m a voracious reader with wide ranging tastes and there was so much I didn’t know. Bibliophiles will enjoy.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a trivia question-and-answer book about literature. I like it, but I would like more details than it includes. I would rate it 3 1/2 stars.

[DC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: This book is part of the Don't Know Much About series (which I only found out about when I looked this up on Goodreads, lol).

What I thought would be a definitive and extremely wordy guide to well-known books and authors actually just turned out to be a bunch of trivia about well-known books and authors. So, basically, it 1) disappointed me when I saw the contents, but it also 2) astounded me on how simply placed and interesting the facts were mentioned in this book. It gives little background on a certain book/author/topic (say, for instance "Agatha Christie" or "Moby-Dick" or "Pen Names"), then enumerates a few questions about the category in question. The answers to the questions may then be seen on the back of the page.

I suppose the book was made to anticipate and answer the first questions anyone new to the world of literature may have, and I can say it does so efficiently enough. I wouldn't call this a perfect reference guide though; I'd just say that it's a decent trivia book... And, I guess, who doesn't like trivia?

[BookSweetie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of the Don't Know Much About series, this is simply an okay sort of trivia style book about literature with a consistent two page pattern: PAGE ONE:Don't know much about X, a paragraph about X, and questions about X -- and PAGE TWO: answers about X. There isn't much to say about this book other than here are some topics that equal the "X" referred to in the previous statement: Fictional First Lines, Charlotte's Web, Dracula, Ernest Hemingway, Robert Frost, Victor Hugo, Gone with the Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird,Edith Wharton, The Pulitzer, Jack London, Hawthorne, Rushdie, Borges, Joyce, Ayn Rand, Nobel First, Dickens, Christmas Classics, Last Lines... I don't think this is a sound way to "learn" much, but like the Goodreads Neverending Quiz, this can be entertaining to explore what info might or might not already be in your head.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoy Kenneth C Davis' books. Since I write a blog and am working on my next manuscript, I bought this for a little inspiration and fun reading. I didn't get much out of it. The bios of the authors were short and bland. The follow up questions were pretty easy. If I leaned anything, I won't remember it because of the format.
I didn't rate it high because I didn't learn anything substantial. Maybe the next Davis book, I'll rate higher.

[Allison Renner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun trivia book about classic literature. Each page is a different subject, like "Fictional First Lines," "Banned Books," or specific authors. There's a brief paragraph of information on the topic, and then a quiz. It definitely piqued my curiosity about some of the classics I'd never read, and some authors I'd never even heard of! A good way to amuse yourself while compiling an extensive reading list.

[David Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't Know Much About Literature: What You Need to Know But Never Learned About Great Books and Authors by Kenneth C. Davis and Jenny Davis (Harper Collins 2009) (806.0). This volume features interesting one and two page summaries of the authors' choices for inclusion on their list of “great books.” My rating: 7/10 finished 2010.