# Guess the book **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004 "2000-11-06T21:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2000, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/281 "2000-12-27T20:45:49Z")
::looks magnanimous:: I would not only consider it my right, but my duty. OK here it is: _On those cloudy days, Robert Neville was never sure when sunset came, and sometimes they were in the streets before he could get back._ First line and first paragraph. Have fun!! ---
**Author:** ![Jekeira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jekeira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jekeira)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/282 "2000-12-28T22:44:53Z")
One sentence??? Aw, c’mon, Zoggie, have a heart. ---
**Author:** ![BornDodgy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@BornDodgy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BornDodgy)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/283 "2000-12-28T22:53:43Z")
fucking hell… I think I ve read that book but I have no clue what it was called or who wrote it… I actually gave it to the public library this x mas I think… aaaaah! dodgy ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/284 "2000-12-28T23:13:14Z")
Oh for crying out loud. Fine…let me get some more out. _If he had been more analytical, he might have calculated the approximate time of their arrival; but he still used the lifetime habit of judging nightfall by the sky, and on cloudy days that method didn’t work. That was why he chose to stay near the house on those days._ Better? Come on i have faith in you guys!! [sub]They’ll never get this one! 😉 [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/285 "2000-12-29T22:26:22Z")
Well, it sounds like something vampire-ish…but I don’t know what! ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/286 "2000-12-29T22:30:24Z")
::nodding:: Good, good, vampirish- waaaait a minute. That was obvious!! Try harder. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/287 "2000-12-29T22:43:33Z")
That’s _I Am Legend_, by Richard Matheson. The vamp tip kind of did set it up. Here’s one from on top of my computer: _Aristotle contemplating the bust of Homer thought often of Socrates while Rembrandt dressed him with paint in a white Renaissance surplice and a medieval black robe and encased him in shadows. “Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius,” Plato has Socrates saying after he had swallowed his cup of poison and felt its numbing effects steal up through his heart. “Will you remember to pay the debt?”_ ---
**Author:** ![fierra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58956e/32.png) [@fierra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fierra)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/288 "2000-12-29T23:45:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoggie \* > \*\*::nodding:: Good, good, vampirish- waaaait a minute. That was obvious!! > > Try harder. \*\* It may have been obvious, but I have never read the book…nor, since I have web-searched since, seen the film! ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/289 "2000-12-30T03:20:22Z")
Okay, I have to admit that I cheated. I can’t remember if I read it or saw the movie, or both, when I was a kid, but it was too familiar to let go. Google got me the entire answer. Curse me! You can either kick out my suggestion or, if you prefer, I’ll give you a fat hint to keep things rolling. Or, I’ll pour nail polish on my genitals and set it aflame. Your choice. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/290 "2000-12-30T06:05:46Z")
:😱: [Super]You DARED to CHEAT?! On the sacred book quiz?! [Rev. Lovejoy] I CAST THEE OUT!!! [/Rev. Lovejoy] [/Super] Sorry…I’m back to normal. That’s okay. I’d like to see the nail polish thing though. A hint would be loverly, by the way… ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/291 "2000-12-30T16:26:53Z")
As for a hint: I’m not sure what it should be. A good hint would be a feather in my cap, but a bad one might be a black eye… And now… whoa! WHOOOAAAOOOUCH! _ **AHHHHHHH!** __For the love of God, someone get me a fire extinguisher!_ ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/292 "2000-12-30T19:28:08Z")
Those are sneaky hints! Still, I’ve already cheated googlishly, so I don’t want to offer any answer, as someone might get the answer properly. Nor do I even offer any fire extinguisher, as I am now too confused wondering why, in the painting, Homer looks like a dead Greek guy, while Aristotle looks a very richly dressed Dutch guy. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/293 "2000-12-30T20:51:21Z")
Celyn, what was the answer to yours btw? ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/294 "2000-12-30T21:21:13Z")
It was (most of) a silly poem from mid/late 60s by Edwin Morgan, who has done loads of terribly academic stuff as well, but it’s only the fun stuff I even half remember. I liked the Shel Silverstein notion a lot, though! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/295 "2000-12-31T00:44:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sofa King \* > \*\*As for a hint: I’m not sure what it should be. A good hint would be a feather in my cap, but a bad one might be a black eye… > > And now… whoa! WHOOOAAAOOOUCH! _ **AHHHHHHH!** __For the love of God, someone get me a fire extinguisher!_ \*\* Sofa, what do you mean by that? Your quote’s not from Catch-22. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/296 "2000-12-31T02:03:43Z")
I know what book yours is from. Socrates: About to Die and Loving It ---
**Author:** ![Nukeman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Nukeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nukeman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/297 "2001-01-08T19:50:03Z")
[_WARNING_ not an answer] hat happened to everyone? did they give this up as a New years resolution? ---
**Author:** ![Jekeira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@Jekeira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jekeira)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/298 "2001-01-08T21:13:59Z")
I’m still keeping tabs, I just don’t know the book. (And was that a lousy hint or what? I think another shot of nail polish might be in order.) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/299 "2001-01-17T02:02:48Z")
I don’t either. I like this thread though. What was the last book, pray tell? And i’m reading an engrossing novel…would u guys like the first line of it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004/300 "2001-01-17T04:03:08Z")
Perhaps the last one was “Picture This” by Joseph Heller. But wasn’t an answer already given and neither confirmed nor denied? I’ve sort of lost track - I disappeared for Christmas and thought the thread had gone into hibernation. But it lives!! Joy! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guess-the-book/40004.md?page=16)