Paraliterature by “Jan Austen”
We recently discovered that an individual calling him or herself “Jan Austen” has published two modern-set Austen pastiches, part of a four-book series called American Pride and Prejudice.
Of A Single Man, Good Fortune (Must Want Wife), the first book in the series, Amazon has the following description:
Has anything changed since Romeo and Juliet, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, The Great Gatsby, Darwin, Freud and Sartre?
Dunno, but our Inner Copy Editor is wondering why the names of authors are italicized along with the titles of books.
The men are from West Hollywood, Massachusetts, Manhattan, and Michigan; the women are from Newport, Rhode Island. Jan Austen reports, cut by thrust and parry, on the Great Game–sexual politics–played as a fabled New England family declines and falls.
Book One in this quartet, A Single Man, Good Fortune (Must Want Wife), is the story of Mathew and Zola Bennet-Towne–the scion and the siren.
We are getting a distinct whiff of F. Scott Fitzgerald here; a good thing in itself, could be interesting combined with Austen, or could be a trainwreck.
The second book, The Arts for Captivation, has the following information:
Following Book One, A Single Man, Good Fortune (Must Want Wife), Book Two in this quartet, The Arts for Captivation, is the story of John Bing and Mary Jane Bennet-Towne–the beau and the beautiful.
Ummm. Yeah.
Of the author, we learn the following:
‘There is a power—a raw strength—in (Austen’s) writing that is unquestionably original…’
–Daily Telegraph, London.
‘Better than 1,000 Cosmos and Playboy Advisors.’
–William Wingate, author.
About the Author
Under a different pen name, Jan Austen has written five novels. One became a major Hollywood movie; others were translated into major foreign languages. Austen lives in Monaco.
We would be remiss if we did not point out that the books are published by iUniverse, which means the books are self-published, which further means they were not subjected to editorial gatekeeping; in other words, no one read them and said, “Hey, these are good books that people want to read, let’s publish them.” Again, this can mean the books are dreadful, or mean nothing at all; but if the author of five previous novels, including one made into a major motion picture and others translated into several languages, is compelled to self-publish, all we have to say is caveat emptor.
January 11th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
The concept sounds good but can the execution live upto our beloved Jane Austen? Very tempting to grab a book just to see what lies hidden behind the book jacket….
January 11th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
I would not hold my breath if I were you.
I’ve been wrong before, but I don’t think I’ll put out the money to find out if I am this time.
February 22nd, 2006 at 2:40 pm
This is the tale of “the scion and the slut,” and, knowing that, you are forewarned. It is the tawdry tale of the rich Mathew [sic]Bennet-Towne, who, while a tiny tot in pre-WWII Monte Carlo, sees his mother kills his father (dad was running away with the governess) and then herself. Things just go downhill from here. Some years later, Mathew falls for Zola, a nymphomaniac circus artiste (by this time I was skimming & trying not to comprehend) and they have a doomed marriage. Zola has an affair with a younger man–Wickham (!)–and Mathew attempts to commit suicide by running his Rolls Royce into a cement truck, but one advantage of great wealth is that Rolls Royces have superior structural integrity so Mathew (at least) will be around for the remaining 3 volumes in this planned 4-volume set.
Even the frequent and sleazy sex scenes could not hold my attention, and I was left completely uninterested in the future fates of Elizabeth & Jane (Mary and Kitty are dropped as characters–lucky them!), though I do confess to a mild curiousity as to whether, and if so, how, Lydia will get herself out of the Turkish prison where she faces execution by firing squad for drug smuggling.
I cannot dis-recommend this book too strongly.
February 22nd, 2006 at 11:24 pm
[...] Janeite Martyr Allison (we are always grateful to those who read Bad Austen Paraliterature so we don’t have to) posted a review of the first book in what apparently is a planned quartet by one “Jan Austen,” about which we posted previously. Allison’s delightfully snarky review is worth repeating here in its entirety. This is the tale of “the scion and the slut,” and, knowing that, you are forewarned. It is the tawdry tale of the rich Mathew [sic]Bennet-Towne, who, while a tiny tot in pre-WWII Monte Carlo, sees his mother kills his father (dad was running away with the governess) and then herself. Things just go downhill from here. Some years later, Mathew falls for Zola, a nymphomaniac circus artiste (by this time I was skimming & trying not to comprehend) and they have a doomed marriage. Zola has an affair with a younger man–Wickham (!)–and Mathew attempts to commit suicide by running his Rolls Royce into a cement truck, but one advantage of great wealth is that Rolls Royces have superior structural integrity so Mathew (at least) will be around for the remaining 3 volumes in this planned 4-volume set. [...]
March 11th, 2006 at 9:42 pm
the man who wrote these things is a character. regular loser at poker in the 8-16 limit game at the wynn casino, a pretentious and condescending brit who wears an ad for the book around his neck at all times. dont buy them