Jane Austen Podcast

This is an interesting podcast of an interview with Joan Klingel Ray, a professor and Jane Austen scholar who wrote Jane Austen for Dummies. It was taped just after Becoming Jane came out in movie theaters. Click here to listen to it.

In it the 20 - 30 minute podcast Dr. Ray discusses what happens to women in the Regency era if they do not marry and what happens if they do not marry well. She also talks about how dependent women are on the men in their lives. Surprisingly, one of her favorite characters is Miss Bingley in Pride and Prejudice. Find out why.

Thank You, Readers

Today marks a milestone of sorts - Jane Austen Today just attracted its 100th follower, which is a new feature offered by blogger (see sidebar). Thank you faithful readers, as your visits and comments make writing this blog rewarding. We started small and began the blog out of devotion to our favorite author, but it is nice to be noticed.

In that light, we would like to point your attention to former JASNA president and Jane Austen scholar, Joan Klingel Ray, who is the President's teaching scholar in the English Department at the University of Colorado. She has also discussed Jane Austen's life on A & E and other specials. Joan will answer your questions about Sense and Sensibility in Ask the Austen Expert at this Barnes & Noble book club disscusion forum until February 13th. Simply go to this link and type in your question.

Both Laurel Ann and I reviewed Joan's book, Jane Austen For Dummies, and gave it high marks.

Click here to read Vic's review, and here for Laurel Ann's.

In addition, after Sense and Sensibility has aired and after Joan has finished answering your last question, PBS Masterpiece Classic will turn its full attention to Charles Dickens for the rest of the year.


It seemed like the best of times, before it turned into the worst of times. Credit flowed like champagne on New Year's Eve, until the inevitable economic hangover. Wall Street in 2008? No, London in the 1820s in Charles Dickens' eerily prophetic novel Little Dorrit. MASTERPIECE CLASSIC presents this timely story, along with three of Dickens' other great works, on "The Tales of Charles Dickens," airing Sundays, February 15 to May 3, 2009, at 9pm ET on PBS (check local listings).

Oliver Twist
Sundays, February 15 and 22, 2009
This bold and gripping adaptation breathes new life into the much loved Charles Dickens story about the young orphan Oliver who is sent to the workhouse where children are raised on a diet of hard work and thin gruel. But we all know the story doesn't end there. Acclaimed newcomer William Miller is Oliver, character actor extraordinaire Timothy Spall (Harry Potter) is Fagin, the prince of thieves, British heartthrob Tom Hardy (Wuthering Heights) is Bill Sikes, Fagin's cruel accomplice, and Sophie Okonedo (The Secret Life of Bees) is Nancy, Bill's lover and Oliver's guardian angel.

March, David Copperfield; March - April, Little Dorrit; May - The Old Curiosity Shop.

Another Austen Blog

Have you noticed Jane Austen Books? This blog points the way to where to purchase Jane's novels and find related items.

Vic, Jane Austen's World and Laurel Ann, Austenprose

Review of Jane Austen for Dummies: My Take

The Janeites on the James meet every other month or so. This past time I brought my new stash of four Jane Austen resource books and showed them around. One elicited a laugh the moment the Janeites saw it: Jane Austen for Dummies.

"Let them laugh," I thought, handing it around and keeping quiet. Sure enough, the first Janeite, the youngest among us, opened the book playfully. As she leafed through the pages, she became thoughtful. "This is good," she declared, keeping the book a long time.

"Hah," I thought. "That shows 'em." At the end of the evening one of the Janeites borrowed the book, and all declared they were going to order it as soon as possible. The majority of us have graduate degrees, and all of us can only be described as discerning females, so this was no mean feat.

The contents in this book alone are worthy of praise. In addition to a clear and concise organization of thoughts and topics, the author, Joahn Klingel Ray, PhD, writes with much authority. The book is an outstanding addition to any Jane lover's library. Dr. Ray is an English Professor at the University of Colorado and the pAST President of the Jane Austen Society of North America.

Believe me when I say: She knows her stuff. The book is rather large to put in one's purse, so I would bring The Jane Austen Handbook when traveling. But for reference at home, I would turn to this book as well.

My rating? Three Regency Fans. Run, don't walk, to your nearest bookstore or google the name to purchase this fabulous find.