Why Jane Austen?

Jane Austen led a relatively obscure life. So why Jane Austen, we might rhetorically ask, along with Brownstein? The term Janeites was coined by an English literary critic in 1894, and Jane-o-Mania makes its debut in this book, which is part lit crit and, in its better sections, part cultural and social history. Much of this account is engaging: it cleverly begins with a 1949 Carl Rose cartoon depicting a "Hooray for Jane" marching band, and concentrates on explaining Austen's rising stock. But it might be a bit much for nonacademics; a little too cute in that winking, academic way. The question mark of the title and many others become something of a writer's tic, and the reader begs for some answers, too. Nonetheless, along the way we learn a lot that is unexpected. For example, Harpo Marx had a surprising role in bringing Austen to the silver screen. Brownstein, professor of English at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, expends even more fruitful energy on Austen's contemporary, Lord Byron, on Mary Wollstonecraft, on "The Aspern Papers." Her observations on all these works are scholarly but marked by ingenuity. 17 illus. (June)