desertvixen | Attention, Jane Austen fans! (Reply)

I was in the book store today, browsing, when I spotted a book entitled Jane Bites Back. I had to buy it. It isn't quite a parody, but it is an absolute scream to read - especially if you're a Jane Austen fan.

The premise? Jane Austen is a vampire, and runs a bookstore in upstate New York. She has a manuscript that has been rejected 116 times. It sounds crazy, and stupid, but it is SO not. It is laugh-out-loud funny without being stupid, and there were several moments where I couldn't believe the author went for the joke. It works though - it is a book that is funny, and knows it, and isn't afraid of being funny.

The book opens with Jane hosting a book signing event by an author who has written a Pride and Prejudice-based book called Waiting for Mr. Darcy. It's a purity/abstinence sort of deal, based on P&P. The author admits to Jane after the signing that she thinks the book idea is full of crap, but she just keeps thinking of the money. It's her "piece of the Austen pie". It also has the first mention of crazy spin-off type books - Sense and Sensuality,a Jane Austen massage book. Jane, meanwhile, can't stop thinking about two hundred years of no royalty checks - ever. Then she admits that she doesn't even like the books. Jane's assistant in the shop, Lucy, defends the books. Jane later really sinks her teeth into the reviewer.

It's hilarious. If you're sick of bad Austen spin-offs (aren't most of us?), then you should read this. You'll enjoy it. There's a tip to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, as well as a hilarious list of Austen spinoffs:

1. Jane Austen paper dolls (these actually exist, see Amazon)
2. Jane Austen action figure (also actually exists)
3. Jane Austen workout book
4. Jane Austen cookbook

It's not just Austen that gets sent up, though. There's a darkly brooding poetic vampire who hails from roughly Jane's original time period (you get three guesses) that plays a major role in the story, and if you love Jane Austen and couldn't stand Jane Eyre, this book has a subplot for you! There's a cute line about how Mr. Darcy has ruined it for other men.

There's also a seriously hilarious parody of Oprah and the View (especially Elisabeth Hasselback), and a sexy male book editor who loves Jane Austen books... who Jane thinks is very sexy... who turns out to be gay. And what I assume is supposed to be a joke on Sweet Valley High and Gossip Girl, as well as a stab at the paranormal/urban fantasy stuff with a book series about a monster hunter who is a lingerie designer by day who dispatches a demon with a corset stay.

It was definitely worth the fourteen bucks at Hastings.

DV