Deborah YaffeAug 14WallpaperingMy husband, an aspiring rock god, owns a T-shirt reading, “How many guitars do I really need? Just one more.” Many Janeites harbor...
Deborah YaffeJul 3RepresentRepresentation is a hot topic in literary circles these days, as publishers reckon (late, slowly, and imperfectly) with their long...
Deborah YaffeJun 29Misaligned starsFour months ago, as blog readers will recall, I turned to the internet for reading suggestions and discovered that my Zodiac sign...
Deborah YaffeMay 22Listening pleasureIt’s been a sadly long time since I strolled through the garden at Jane Austen’s House, the cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where Austen...
Deborah YaffeApr 24False advertising?Like many Janeites, I know scattered bits of Austen by heart. I can proclaim the first sentences of Pride and Prejudice and Emma, recite...
Deborah YaffeMar 6Writing womenAs a writer who is also a fan of period drama, I pay attention to the screenwriting credits on my favorite literary-minded TV...
Deborah YaffeJan 12Alumni reunionsOver the holidays, my family settled in for a screening of that sublime romcom Notting Hill. When the movie ended (“I’m just a girl,...
Deborah YaffeNov 14, 2022PassagesThe years 1995-96 yielded a bumper crop of filmed versions of Jane Austen’s novels, designed for both big and small screens. The...
Deborah YaffeOct 31, 2022Scary monstersHappy Halloween, Janeites! Although Austen wrote no scenes of trick-or-treating, pumpkin-carving, or gorging on candy corn, she certainly...
Deborah YaffeOct 17, 2022SnoozePeople who hate Jane Austen – yes, such benighted folks do exist – sometimes claim that she is so-o-o boring that she causes eyelids to...
Deborah YaffeOct 10, 2022Expensive thrillsFor Janeites, the Austen First Edition Thrill-o-Meter is calibrated something like this: Biggest Thrill: Austen novel first edition owned...
Deborah YaffeSep 8, 2022Laying the tableFrom time to time, a particular news item brings a snippet of Jane Austen’s wisdom forcibly to mind – such a snippet as, say, “One half...