It’s always nice to find Austen fans in semi-unexpected places. Today’s entry comes from this recent interview with Joshua Malina, a star of the TV show Scandal (which I haven’t seen) and before that of The West Wing (which I’ve seen all of).
“I reread Pride and Prejudice recently, because the next book I'll probably read is Longbourn, which is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, but from the servants’ point of view,” Malina told Adweek interviewer Jason Lynch last week. “And you know what? That Jane Austen -- it holds up! It always hits me how funny it is and how wise it is. “
Malina was a year behind me in college, but I didn’t know him. It is a sad fact of life that one’s college classmates do not walk around with large neon signs on their foreheads announcing, “I’m Going To Be Famous.” As a result, I wasted my college years getting to know my future beloved lifelong friends, instead of spending my time sucking up to future White House press secretary Jay Carney, future Tony-winning actor Jefferson Mays, future acclaimed novelist Chang-Rae Lee, and future happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, to name just a few.
Still, it’s good to know that at least one of the famous people I never met shares my taste in famous writers.