Searching for Jane Austen demolishes with wit and vivacity the often-held view of "Jane," a decorous maiden aunt writing her small drawing-room stories of teas and balls. Emily Auerbach presents a different Jane Austenβa brilliant writer who, despite the obstacles facing women of her time, worked seriously on improving her craft and became one of the worldβs greatest novelists, a master of wit, irony, and character development.
In addition, Auerbach considers Austenβs final irreverent writings, discusses her tragic death at the age of forty- one, and ferrets out ridiculous modern adaptations and illustrations, including ads, cartoons, book jackets, newspaper articles, plays, and films from our own time. An appendix reprints a ground-breaking article that introduced Mark Twainβs "Jane Austen," an unfinished and unforgettable essay in which Twain and Austen enter into mortal combat.
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