Cinematical has the poster for the film adaptation of The Jane Austen Book Club. We confess we are not thrilled with it, though we are still looking forward to the film with cautious optimism. Also we’re still not sure when it is going to be released other than in New York and Los Angeles.

USAToday has a feature article on Jane Austen today, in which the eternal question once again is examined: Why Jane Austen?

Plain Jane is suddenly a babe.

There’s no denying that Jane Austen, brilliant early-19th-century spinster novelist, is Paris-Hilton hot, circa 2007.

New rule: Comparisons of Jane Austen To That Hilton Creature Will Result In Application of Cluebat, With Extreme Prejudice.

Sadly, poor Jane Austen may have never gotten to first base in real life.

Sigh.

And Mr. Darcy. There is an entire sub-genre of sequels that bring Elizabeth Bennet’s husband into sharper focus. Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife (2004) and Darcy & Elizabeth (2006), by Linda Berdoll, are the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling Pride and Prejudice sequels, according to publisher Sourcebooks.

*weeps*

But it all begins, and ends, with Austen. “She’s almost eerily contemporary despite the bonnets, the balls and the carriages, because she’s so keen and hilarious an observer of human nature,” says author Laurie Viera Rigler. “To me, it’s as if she’s a modern-day psychotherapist who time-traveled back to the Regency period and writes a novel about everyone who spent time on her couch.”

At last: A voice of reason. (Thank you, Laurie.)

There also are articles on some of the recent Austen-related novels and an excerpt from Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

Thanks to Alert Janeites Lisa and Kirsten for the links!

The release date approacheth, and the reviews for Becoming Jane are rather mixed. The latest press is the usual mix of reviews and puff pieces; Rotten Tomatoes has the freshness rating currently at 65%. We’re feeling magnanimous today, so we’ll start with the positive reviews, most of which scold those of us who take issue with the Made Up Story. Ella Taylor says,

Oh, wipe that starchy Masterpiece Theatre moue off your face. Pop Jane Austen is fun, especially when it’s almost completely made up.

Pop Jane Austen can be fun, certainly, and this film is pretty much completely made up. We’re not sure that those two statements go together, however. (more…)

Alert Janeite Lisa sent us this link to a press release about a reading of a P&P musical tomorrow in New York City. Watch AustenBlog for a full report!