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A truth universally acknowledged : 33 great writers on why we read Jane Austen / edited by Susannah Carson ; foreword by Harold Bloom.

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Random House, c2009.Edition: 1st edDescription: xx, 295 p. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 1400068053 (alk. paper)
  • 9781400068050 (alk. paper)
Other title:
  • Truth universally acknowledged : thirty three great writers on why we read Jane Austen
Subject(s):
Contents:
Why we read Jane Austen : young persons in interesting situations / Susanna Clarke -- The radiance of Jane Austen / Eudora Welty -- Six reasons to read Jane Austen / Rebecca Mead -- Jane Austen : the six novels / E. M. Forster -- A life among the manuscripts : following in the steps of Dr. Chapman / Brian Southam -- Reading Northanger Abbey / Susannah Carson -- On Sense and Sensibility / Ian Watt -- From "Why we read Jane Austen" / Lionel Trilling -- Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice / W. Somerset Maugham -- Force of love : Price and Prejudice by Jane Austen / Martin Amis -- The nerds of Pride and Prejudice / Benjamin Nugent -- Austen portrays a small world with humor and detachment / J. B. Priestley -- Pride and Prejudice and the mysteries of life / Anna Quindlen -- A note on Jane Austen / C. S. Lewis -- Jane Austen and the good life / Louis Auchincloss -- What became of Jane Austen? / Kingsley Amis -- from "Jane Austen : Mansfield Park" / A. S. Byatt, Ignes Sodre -- The modest art of altering life / Alain De Botton -- Let others deal with misery / Fay Weldon -- Fanny was right : Jane Austen as moral guide / James Collins -- Why I like Jane Austen / Janet Todd -- Why do we read Jane Austen? / John Wiltshire -- The girls who don't say "whoo!" / Amy Heckerling -- Reading and rereading Emma / David Lodge -- from "Emma and the legend of Jane Austen" / Lionel Trilling -- The perfections of Jane Austen / Eva Brann -- from "The myth of limitation" / Donald Greene -- Terrible Jane / Amy Bloom -- Some thoughts on the craft of Austen's Persuasion / Diane Johnson -- Nothing but himself / Margot Livesey -- Jane Austen at sixty / Virginia Woolf -- Beautiful minds / Jay MacInerney.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 823.7 T874 Available 33111006263509
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

For so many of us a Jane Austen novel is much more than the epitome of a great read. It is a delight and a solace, a challenge and a reward, and perhaps even an obsession. For two centuries Austen has enthralled readers. Few other authors can claim as many fans or as much devotion. So why are we so fascinated with her novels? What is it about her prose that has made Jane Austen so universally beloved?

In essays culled from the last one hundred years of criticism juxtaposed with new pieces by some of today's most popular novelists and essayists, Jane Austen's writing is examined and discussed, from her witty dialogue to the arc and sweep of her story lines. Great authors and literary critics of the past offer insights into the timelessness of her moral truths while highlighting the unique confines of the society in which she composed her novels. Virginia Woolf examines Austen's maturation as an artist and speculates on how her writing would have changed if she'd lived twenty more years, while C. S. Lewis celebrates Austen's mirthful, ironic take on traditional values.

Modern voices celebrate Austen's amazing legacy with an equal amount of eloquence and enthusiasm. Fay Weldon reads Mansfield Park as an interpretation of Austen's own struggle to be as "good" as Fanny Price. Anna Quindlen examines the enduring issues of social pressure and gender politics that make Pride and Prejudice as vital today as ever. Alain de Botton praises Mansfield Park for the way it turns Austen's societal hierarchy on its head. Amy Bloom finds parallels between the world of Persuasion and Austen's own life. And Amy Heckerling reveals how she transformed the characters of Emma into denizens of 1990s Beverly Hills for her comedy Clueless . From Harold Bloom to Martin Amis, Somerset Maugham to Jay McInerney, Eudora Welty to Margot Livesey, each writer here reflects on Austen's place in both the literary canon and our cultural imagination.

We read, and then reread, our favorite Austen novels to connect with both her world and our own. Because, as A Truth Universally Acknowledged so eloquently demonstrates, the only thing better than reading a Jane Austen novel is finding in our own lives her humor, emotion, and love.

Includes bibliographic references.

Why we read Jane Austen : young persons in interesting situations / Susanna Clarke -- The radiance of Jane Austen / Eudora Welty -- Six reasons to read Jane Austen / Rebecca Mead -- Jane Austen : the six novels / E. M. Forster -- A life among the manuscripts : following in the steps of Dr. Chapman / Brian Southam -- Reading Northanger Abbey / Susannah Carson -- On Sense and Sensibility / Ian Watt -- From "Why we read Jane Austen" / Lionel Trilling -- Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice / W. Somerset Maugham -- Force of love : Price and Prejudice by Jane Austen / Martin Amis -- The nerds of Pride and Prejudice / Benjamin Nugent -- Austen portrays a small world with humor and detachment / J. B. Priestley -- Pride and Prejudice and the mysteries of life / Anna Quindlen -- A note on Jane Austen / C. S. Lewis -- Jane Austen and the good life / Louis Auchincloss -- What became of Jane Austen? / Kingsley Amis -- from "Jane Austen : Mansfield Park" / A. S. Byatt, Ignes Sodre -- The modest art of altering life / Alain De Botton -- Let others deal with misery / Fay Weldon -- Fanny was right : Jane Austen as moral guide / James Collins -- Why I like Jane Austen / Janet Todd -- Why do we read Jane Austen? / John Wiltshire -- The girls who don't say "whoo!" / Amy Heckerling -- Reading and rereading Emma / David Lodge -- from "Emma and the legend of Jane Austen" / Lionel Trilling -- The perfections of Jane Austen / Eva Brann -- from "The myth of limitation" / Donald Greene -- Terrible Jane / Amy Bloom -- Some thoughts on the craft of Austen's Persuasion / Diane Johnson -- Nothing but himself / Margot Livesey -- Jane Austen at sixty / Virginia Woolf -- Beautiful minds / Jay MacInerney.

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