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Devoney Looser

The Making of Jane Austen Hardcover – June 27, 2017

by Devoney Looser (Author)

38 ratings

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An engaging account of how Jane Austen became a household name.

Just how did Jane Austen become the celebrity author and the inspiration for generations of loyal fans she is today? Devoney Looser's The Making of Jane Austen turns to the people, performances, activism, and images that fostered Austen's early fame, laying the groundwork for the beloved author we think we know.

Here are the Austen influencers, including her first English illustrator, the eccentric Ferdinand Pickering, whose sensational gothic images may be better understood through his brushes with bullying, bigamy, and an attempted matricide. The daring director-actress Rosina Filippi shaped Austen's reputation with her pioneering dramatizations, leading thousands of young women to ventriloquize Elizabeth Bennet's audacious lines before drawing room audiences. Even the supposedly staid history of Austen scholarship has its bizarre stories. The author of the first Jane Austen dissertation, student George Pellew, tragically died young, but he was believed by many, including his professor-mentor, to have come back from the dead.

Looser shows how these figures and their Austen-inspired work transformed Austen's reputation, just as she profoundly shaped theirs. Through them, Looser describes the factors and influences that radically altered Austen's evolving image. Drawing from unexplored material, Looser examines how echoes of that work reverberate in our explanations of Austen's literary and cultural power. Whether you're a devoted Janeite or simply Jane-curious, The Making of Jane Austen will have you thinking about how a literary icon is made, transformed, and handed down from generation to generation.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

A Publishers Weekly Best Summer Book (Nonfiction) of 2017

Book Description

An engaging account of how Jane Austen became a household name.

From the Inside Flap

Whether you're a devoted Janeite or simply Jane-curious, The Making of Jane Austen will have you thinking about how a literary icon is made, transformed, and handed down from generation to generation.

Energetic and revealing.--Jane Smiley, New York Times Book Review

Timely and authoritative.--Times Literary Supplement

Austen fans have another book to add to their libraries.--Publishers Weekly

A studious and sensible book, driven by a commitment to shedding light on Austen's work and context.--Times Higher Education

The Making of Jane Austen lovingly unveils Austen's posthumous journey to become a permanent fixture in classic English literature.--Foreword Reviews

An informative and delightful read for literary lovers who want to learn more about one of the most celebrated authors of all time, The Making of Jane Austen puts the famed novelist in a whole new light.--Bustle

Written with wit and in pleasing yet learned prose, the book bridges well the gap between academic and popular writing.--Choice

The Making of Jane Austen is both an essential, rigorously researched text for serious Austen scholars and an irresistibly lively reading experience for even the most newly initiated of Janeites.--Romantic Circles

The story of how Jane Austen became, in Looser's words, 'Jane! Austen!', is a meandering tale with unlikely participants, unexpected twists, and a great deal of humour.--Jane Austen Society of Australia

The Making of Jane Austen . . . will be remembered as a book of the decade in Austen scholarship.--JASNA News

Devoney Looser tells us as much about what we want and need from our literary celebrities as [she] does about 'Aunt Jane' herself.--Review 19

--Claudia Johnson, Princeton University, author of Jane Austen's Cults and Cultures "Literature and History"

From the Back Cover

"Energetic and revealing."―Jane Smiley, New York Times Book Review

"Timely and authoritative."―Times Literary Supplement

"Austen fans have another book to add to their libraries."―Publishers Weekly

"A studious and sensible book, driven by a commitment to shedding light on Austen's work and context."―Times Higher Education

"The Making of Jane Austen lovingly unveils Austen's posthumous journey to become a permanent fixture in classic English literature."―Foreword Reviews

"An informative and delightful read for literary lovers who want to learn more about one of the most celebrated authors of all time, The Making of Jane Austen puts the famed novelist in a whole new light."―Bustle

"Written with wit and in pleasing yet learned prose, the book bridges well the gap between academic and popular writing."―Choice

"The Making of Jane Austen is both an essential, rigorously researched text for serious Austen scholars and an irresistibly lively reading experience for even the most newly initiated of Janeites."―Romantic Circles

"The story of how Jane Austen became, in Looser's words, 'Jane! Austen!', is a meandering tale with unlikely participants, unexpected twists, and a great deal of humour."―Jane Austen Society of Australia

"The Making of Jane Austen... will be remembered as a book of the decade in Austen scholarship."―JASNA News

"Devoney Looser tells us as much about what we want and need from our literary celebrities as [she] does about 'Aunt Jane' herself."―Review 19

About the Author

Devoney Looser is a Foundation Professor of English at Arizona State University, a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, and a Guggenheim Fellow. She is the author of Women Writers and Old Age in Great Britain, 1750–1850 and British Women Writers and the Writing of History, 1670–1820.

Publisher : Johns Hopkins University Press (June 27, 2017)
Language: : English
Hardcover : 308 pages
ISBN-10 : 1421422824
ISBN-13 : 978-1421422824
Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
Dimensions : 6 x 1 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #917 in Gothic & Romantic Literary Criticism (Books)
- #2,484 in British & Irish Literary Criticism (Books)
- #7,030 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

Customer Reviews:
38 ratings

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Mary G. Marshall

The One Book on Jane Austen to Buy This Year

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

Devoney Looser is considered an expert on Jane Austen and is in demand as a speaker at conferences about Austen. I've been disappointed, on occasion, when I read a book by a speaker I've enjoyed and then find the book is dry and full of errors. This is definitely not the case with Dr. Looser's latest book on Jane Austen. Even those of us who are Jane Austen experts or knowledgeable fans, will learn something new in this entertainimg book about Jane Austen. If you only buy one book about Jane Austen this year, this is THE ONE!

12 people found this helpful

Helpful

John Feffer

Excellent Account of Austen's Cultural Afterlife

Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2018

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An extraordinary work of research and analysis. Even if you've forgotten all the Jane Austen you read in high school, this book will open your mind to the ways that fiction is represented and received and filtered through popular culture. The chapters on Frederick Pickering (Austen's first illustrator), George Pellew (the first Austen Ph.d), and Dear Jane (an early stage play now forgotten) are literary excavations well worth the price of the book.

3 people found this helpful

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Annie H

Lots of great Jane Austen knowledge

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2020

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Love all of the detail that Devoney Looser put into this book. I learned so much, and it almost makes me want to go back to school and become a Jane Austen scholar.

One person found this helpful

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Lynski

Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2018

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This scholarly approach to explaining the popularity of Jane Austen over time is well footnoted and indexed. The author is a professor and her research brings much to light. The publicity side of the name Jane Austen was promoted by book illustrators, playwriters, stage performances, and movies. The visual view of Jane Austen stories and the dramatic presentations in many media kept the plots alive and relevant for all ages. This is an interesting view of Jane Austen as an enduring popular author. Very enjoyable.

One person found this helpful

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Linda

A great read

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

It's not every day a book comes along on Jane Austen that has really new and fresh material. This is a beautifully written and well researched book that talks about Jane's afterlife--the illustrations to her books in later decades, dramatic versions of the novels, the first film, the first dissertation (!). A perfect read for those interested in the author and the novels but who don't want to wade through a lot of lit crit.

3 people found this helpful

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Sherry Moore

Immortal Austen

Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017

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An excellent treatment of the ways Austen's work has been informed by others after her death. Scholarly and detailed, but highly accessible. Dr. Looser knows her stuff.

One person found this helpful

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Hannah

Good

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2021

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Good

Helpful

pocadesigns

This is an exhaustively researched book, written with insight ...

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is an exhaustively researched book, written with insight and humor. Devoney Looser clearly loves her subject, and her passion is infectious. If you have any interest in Jane Austen and the world around her, you will not regret having this book in your library.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Keith Steventon

This is an interesting perspective on how the image of ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is an interesting perspective on how the image of Jane Austin and her works has been amended by the way it has been interpreted, over time, by book illustrators, by adaption for the stage and then for the cinema and television. You are forced to reflect on how your own idea of 'Dear Aunt Jane' has been constructed by what you have read and watched. Has there been an evolution in your idea that parallels that identified and discussed by Devoney Looser. You should read this if you have any interest in Austen, you do not have to be a 'Jane-ite'.

2 people found this helpful

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