Have you wondered what Sir William Beechey's portrait of Maria B. Fox looked like before she was zombified by Quirk Books? Check out her image on the left and on the
deluxe edition of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on the right. This new leatherette edition boasts 30% more zombies in its expanded version, a new preface by coauthor Seth Grahame-Smith, and thirteen oil painting illustrations by
Roberto Parada.
Why does the publisher desire you to spend more money on this new edition? Because they've offered more carnage, more corpse slaying, and more gruesome cannibalism inside its 360 pristine white acid-free pages. With a satin ribbon marker and leatherette cover, you can confidently place it alongside the first-edition heirlooms on your book shelf.
Click on the image above for the enlarged version. Click on the links below to learn more about this runaway New York Times bestseller.
1. Many critics have addressed the dual nature of Elizabeth's personality. On one hand, she can be a savage, remorseless killer, as we see in her vanquishing of Lady Catherine's ninjas. On the other hand, she can be tender and merciful, as in her relationships with Jane, Charlotte, and the young bucks that roam her family's estate. In your opinion, which of these "halves" best represents the real Elizabeth at the beginning—and end of the novel?
2. Is Mr. Collins merely too fat and stupid to notice his wife's gradual transformation into a zombie, or could there be another explanation for his failure to acknowledge the problem? If so, what might that explanation be? How might his occupation (as a pastor) relate to his denial of the obvious, or his decision to hang himself?
3. The strange plague has been the scourge of England for "five-and-fifty years." Why do the English stay and fight, rather than retreat to the safety of eastern Europe or Africa?
4. Who receives the sorrier fate: Wickham, left paralyzed in a seminary for the lame, forever soiling himself and studying ankle-high books of scripture? Or Lydia, removed from her family, married to an invalid, and childless, yet forever changing filthy diapers?
5. Due to her fierce independence, devotion to exercise, and penchant for boots, some critics have called Elizabeth Bennet "the first literary lesbian." Do you think the authors intended her to be gay? And if so, how would this Sapphic twist serve to explain her relationships with Darcy, Jane, Charlotte, Lady Catherine, and Wickham?
6. Some critics have suggested that the zombies represent the authors' views toward marriage—an endless curse that sucks the life out you and just won't die. Do you agree, or do you have another opinion about the symbolism of the unmentionables?
7. Does Mrs. Bennet have a single redeeming quality?
If you relish reading passages like the following, then this book is right up your alley:
"Elizabeth passed the chief of the night in her sister's room, alternately tending to Jane's needs and amusing herself by keeping a dagger balanced on the tip of her finger for hours on end..."
Quirk recently teamed up with the Bridgeman Art Library to create an awesome contest; the Art of the Mash-up Design Competition. Quirk is inviting fans of Quirk Classics to create their own mashed up covers, using the same resource for the fine art and historical images they've used for Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, Android Karenina, and the upcoming Dreadfully Ever After .
