Bite-Size Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility from One of England's Greatest Writers [Hardcover]

John P. Holms (Compiler), Karin Baji (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1999

Jane Austen's novels are filled with wide-ranging commentary on all aspects of life. Her sharp-witted and intelligent characters have provided us with memorable quotes time and time again.

Finally Austen's sense and sensibility has been compiled in one compact book. In Bite-Size Jane Austen readers get her thoughts and words on society, men and women, the arts and writing, business and politics, England, family matters and on the human condition.

Bite-Size Jane Austen is the fifth book in the highly successful series. Arranged into eight wide-ranging chapters and many sub- chapters, finding the perfect quote for the perfect situation is simple.

On literature and poetry:

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery. I quit such odious subjects as soon as I can".

On men and women:

"One half the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other".

On writing novels:

"An artist cannot do anything slovenly".

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1st edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312205015
• ISBN-13: 978-0312205010
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,114,885 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Though the domain of Jane Austen's novels was as circumscribed as her life, her caustic wit and keen observation made her the equal of the greatest novelists in any language. Born the seventh child of the rector of Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, she was educated mainly at home. At an early age she began writing sketches and satires of popular novels for her family's entertainment. As a clergyman's daughter from a well-connected family, she had an ample opportunity to study the habits of the middle class, the gentry, and the aristocracy. At twenty-one, she began a novel called "The First Impressions" an early version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1801, on her father's retirement, the family moved to the fashionable resort of Bath. Two years later she sold the first version of Northanger Abby to a London publisher, but the first of her novels to appear was Sense and Sensibility, published at her own expense in 1811. It was followed by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815). After her father died in 1805, the family first moved to Southampton then to Chawton Cottage in Hampshire. Despite this relative retirement, Jane Austen was still in touch with a wider world, mainly through her brothers; one had become a very rich country gentleman, another a London banker, and two were naval officers. Though her many novels were published anonymously, she had many early and devoted readers, among them the Prince Regent and Sir Walter Scott. In 1816, in declining health, Austen wrote Persuasion and revised Northanger Abby, Her last work, Sandition, was left unfinished at her death on July 18, 1817. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral. Austen's identity as an author was announced to the world posthumously by her brother Henry, who supervised the publication of Northanger Abby and Persuasion in 1818.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am GAY, November 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bite-Size Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility from One of England's Greatest Writers (Hardcover)

I Andrew Davis am GAY thank you