Everybody's Jane: Austen in the Popular Imagination
"Once Jane Austen was merely a beloved author. Today she isa phenomenon, a mogul, a money-maker. InEverybody's Jane, Wells provides an encyclopedic account of Austenin the popular culture, as she and her characters make movies, inspirepilgrimages, provide dating tips, solve crimes, fight zombies... Wells'research is prodigious, her material fascinating, and her style easy andreadable." (Sanford Lakoff)"Juliette Wells'sEverybody's Janeengaginglyfills a surprising gap in the bulging Jane Austen bookshelves, surveying howand why this writer of six anonymously published novels attracts both young andold, female and male, and academics and amateurs. Professor Wells leads thereader, including this one, to think about why one loves and respects the same"Jane" who has sparked an Austen cottage industry of key chains, mugs, andRegency dressing, but who shunned fame and publicity in her own life." (Sanford Lakoff)“Once Jane Austen was merely a beloved author. Today she isa phenomenon, a mogul, a money-maker. InEverybody’s Jane, Wells provides an encyclopaedic account of Austenin the popular culture, as she and her characters make movies, inspirepilgrimages, provide dating tips, solve crimes, fight zombies… Wells'research is prodigious, her material fascinating, and her style easy andreadable.” (Sanford Lakoff)“Juliette Wells’sEverybody’s Janeengaginglyfills a surprising gap in the bulging Jane Austen bookshelves, surveying howand why this writer of six anonymously published novels attracts both young andold, female and male, and academics and amateurs. Professor Wells leads thereader, including this one, to think about why one loves and respects the same“Jane” who has sparked an Austen cottage industry of key chains, mugs, andRegency dressing, but who shunned fame and publicity in her own life.” (Sanford Lakoff)'Atonce affectionate and judicious,Everybody’sJanesucceeds marvellously in revealing the energy and tremendous varietyof the practices that amateur readers develop to make Jane Austen’s worksa part of their lives. Juliette Wells’ stories of Austen-inspiredfandom—of Austen tourism, collecting, fan fiction, and dating guides—amplyreveal the creativity that resides within everyday acts of fandom.' (Sanford Lakoff)'Awitty, erudite, and humane exploration of the varied ways that amateur readersof Jane Austen have sought closeness with the object of their affection, fromcollecting her works and visiting the places where she lived, to imagining Janein novels and films – or most extremely, in hybrid creations that featureElizabeth Bennett as a martial artist combating zombies, Jane Austen as avampire, or her characters as paragons of evangelical faith. Juliette Wellsapproaches all these manifestations of fandom without disparagement and with anopen mind.Her book, which is bothlearned and generous of spirit, illuminates the sometimes quirky culturalcreativity that ensues when Austen’s readers follow their desires to connectpersonally with their beloved author (and the woman behind the writing), andthe enormous pull Austen and her works continue to exert on the popularimagination.' (Sanford Lakoff)