(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

1. Augusten Burroughs

(Photo: ULF Andersen/Getty Images)

2. William S. Burroughs

(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

3. Sophie Dahl

(Photo: Dunmant/Getty Images)

4. Roald Dahl

(Photo: Patrick McMullan)

5. Tom Wolfe

(Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

6. Virginia Woolf

(Photo: Vicki Valerio/Philadelphia Inquirer/Newscom)

7. Nicholson Baker

A. “During the summers … worked as a cub reporter … [D]isliked the work and refused to cover some events, like the death of a drowned child.”

B. “Known for being a plus-size model, although … has since lost weight and is now of similar proportions to other fashion models.”

C. “Stephen King notoriously compared [one of the author’s works] to a ‘meaningless little fingernail paring.’ ”

D. “[W]rote in [own] diary, ‘I do not like the Jewish voice; I do not like the Jewish laugh.’ ”

E. “Writing pokes fun at subjects such as advertising, psychiatrists, religious families … ”

F. “He was buried with his snooker cues, some very good Burgundy, chocolates, HB pencils, and a power saw.”

G. “[C]riticized Wikipedia, which he said ‘only a primitive would believe a word of.’ ”

ANSWERS: 1, E; 2, A; 3, B; 4, F; 5, G; 6, D; 7, C

Related:

• Archive: “Book Features”
• Table of Contents: Apr 21, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!