Benjamin Franklin was a guest at a Paris dinner party when a question was posed: What condition of man most deserves pity? Each guest proposed a miserable situation. When Franklin's turn came, he responded, "A lonesome man on a rainy day who does not know how to read." Here follow brief anecdotes about some American and European authors, each of whom you are asked to identify: 1. When the first edition of this American poet's collection of poems appeared in 1855, the Boston Intelligencer said in its review: "The author should be kicked out from all decent society as below the level of the brute. He must be some escaped lunatic raving in pitiable delirium." The collection went through nine more editions and gained a large, enthusiastic readership in the United States and England. 2. This conjurer of animal fables is said to have been a deformed black slave who lived in the sixth century B.C. According to tradition, he used his fables to bolster his arguments and, ultimately, to win his freedom. 3. This New England writer had 706 of one of his unsold books returned to him by a book dealer. In a journal entry he wrote, "I now have a library of nearly 900 volumes, over 700 of which I wrote myself." 4. When he was 90 years old, this Greek tragedian was brought before a court of law by his sons, who sought to have him declared senile and thus incompetent to manage his estate. In his own defense, the playwright read aloud passages from his Oedipus at Colonus, which he had recently completed but not yet staged. The jury confirmed his competency, chastised his sons, and escorted him home as an honor. 5. This British writer's rags-to-riches life was more remarkable than any of his sentimental stories. Born into an impoverished family and having worked as a child slave in a London blacking factory, he became, at the age of 25, the most popular author in England. 6. After reaching 40, this housewife and mother of five began writing her first books -- the Earth's Children fictional saga. The series has gone on to become one of the fastest-selling in publishing history. Answers 1. Walt Whitman 2. Aesop 3. Henry David Thoreau 4. Sophocles 5. Charles Dickens 6. Jean Auel Now try the Verbivore's Challenge. The first reader to identify each of the American authors described below will win a $25 gift certificate to Borders Books and Music. 1. This American humorist and member of the famed Algonquin Round Table once quipped, "It took me 15 years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous." 2. When this Irish playwright was stopped by U.S. customs in New York, he proclaimed, "I have nothing to declare except my genius." 3. At the height of this British writer's popularity, he is said to have earned about a dollar a word. This inspired a certain autograph hound, who had been unsuccessful in obtaining the great man's signature, to try again. He sent off a letter that he was sure would produce the desired result: "I see you get $1 a word for your writing. I enclose a check for $1. Please send me a sample." The writer replied by postcard -- unsigned: "Thanks." Please enter your full name Are your answers all filled in? Then press the SUBMIT button below. This quickly sends your answers back to SALON. There is no need to press this button twice. The winner of the last Verbivore Challenge was Keith Chaffee, who correctly guessed the following: 1. This reclusive American writer was depicted in W. P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe." When the subject threatened to sue, he was replaced in the film version, titled "Field of Dreams," by a fictitious writer named Terrence Mann, who was portrayed by James Earl Jones. J.D. Salinger 2. This writer, critic and humorist once arrived simultaneously at a narrow doorway with the playwright, journalist and politician Clare Boothe Luce. "Age before beauty," said Mrs. Luce, stepping aside. "Pearls before swine," purred our writer as she glided through the doorway. Dorothy Parker 3. When he was a young busboy in a Washington, D.C., hotel, this American poet left a packet of his poems next to the poet Vachel Lindsay's plate. Lindsay helped to launch the young man's career, and the busboy became the leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes Language expert Richard Lederer's latest book is "Pun and Games," wordplay for kids. He comments on language for National Public Radio and other radio stations and is the Grammar Grappler for Writer's Digest. He can be reached at rlederer@tiac.net. Visit the newly-erected Verbivore web site at http://www.tiac.net/users/rlederer/index.htm