The Jane Austen Book Club

Version: Unabridged (Abridged version available here)
Author: Karen Joy Fowler
Narrator: Kimberly Schraf
Genres: Fiction
Publisher: Listen & Live Audio
Published In: April 2004
# of Units: 7 CDs
Length: 9 hours
Ratings:
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Overview

A sublime comedy of contemporary manners, this is the novel Jane Austen might well have written had she lived in twenty-first-century California.

Nothing ever moves in a straight line in Karen Joy Fowler's fiction, and in her latest, the complex dance of modern love has never been so devious or so much fun.

Six Californians join to discuss Jane Austen's novels. Over the six months they meet, marriages are tested, affairs begin, unsuitable arrangements become suitable, and love happens. With her finely sighted eye for the frailties of human behavior and her finely tuned ear for the absurdities of social intercourse, Fowler has never been wittier nor her characters more appealing. The result is a delicious dissection of modern relationships.

Dedicated Austenites will delight in unearthing the echoes of Austen that run through the novel, but most readers will simply enjoy the vision and voice that, despite two centuries of separation, unite two great writers of brilliant social comedy.

Selected Reviews

It grew on me

by Charlotte
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Dry Chick Lit

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 2/5

More...

Read All 5

Reviews (5)

It grew on me

Written by Charlotte from Durham, NC on June 15th, 2006

  • Book Rating: 5/5

It took me well into this book to realize it was a favorite, but so it is. Perhaps I was slow to see all the Austen-esque characteristics, but once I begin to see their shapes, I had so much fun identifying them further and finding new ones. The book is about Austen's novels of course, and I wish I had read/listened to all of them before reading this, but in no way is prior Austen reading necessary to enjoyment of these characters.

Dry Chick Lit

Written by Anonymous from Arlington, MA on August 14th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 2/5

A series of character studies about ordinary people with mundane lives, punctuated by occasional drama. In Jane Austen's novels, you might find yourself caring about the characters. Not so in this book.

Jane Austen Book Club

Written by Anonymous on April 26th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I listened to the whole thing, but then I wondered why. The narrator does a terrible job with the voices, I didn't care about any of the characters, and nothing really happens.

Jane Austen Book Club

Written by Anonymous from Glendale, CA on March 8th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 1/5

I made it through the first 4 discs but just barely. I returned the others without listening to them. I thought the story would be better than it was. Difficult to follow, too much work to listen and enjoy.

Austen doesn't echo here

Written by Anonymous from Carrollton, TX on January 31st, 2005

  • Book Rating: 1/5

Nothing moves in a straight line in this tale. In fact, the story line is a rambling of episodes that are uninteresting and off-color. I was an English major and Victorian literature was my favorite genre. I should have believed the earlier book review and by-passed this one. I sent the first installment back after listening to the second CD.

Selected Reviews

It grew on me

by Charlotte
  • Book Rating: 5/5

Dry Chick Lit

by Anonymous
  • Book Rating: 2/5

More...

Read All 5

Author Details

Author Details

Fowler, Karen Joy

Karen Joy Fowler is the author of "The Jane Austen Book Club" which was on bestseller lists nationwide and spent thirteen weeks on "The New York Times" list. Along with her first two novels, it was a "New York Times" Notable Book. "Sister Noon," her third novel, was a finalist for the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award.