The Daily Jane Austen

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Jane Austen is eminently, delightfully, and delectably quotable. This truth goes far beyond the first line of Pride and Prejudice, which has muscled out many other excellent sentences. So many gems of wit and wisdom from her novels deserve to be better known, from Northanger Abbey on its lovable, na ve heroine--"If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad"--to Persuasion's moving lines of love from its regret-filled hero: "You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late." The 378 genuine, Austen-authored quotations in this book may serve as an introduction to her genius, for those who have yet to discover it, or as a happy reminder of past joys of reading, for those already well-versed in her world. Devoney Looser, a.k.a. Stone Cold Jane Austen, has drawn these passages from a variety of texts across the canon--from Austen's major novels to her epistolary works to the raucous writings of her youth--resulting in an anthology that is compulsively readable and repeatable. Looser provides a brilliant foreword and introduces each month with a longer seasonal quote, while concise bits of wit and wisdom mark each day. Whether you approach the collection on a one-a-day model or in a satisfying binge-read, you will emerge wiser about Austen, if not about life. The Daily Jane Austen will amuse and inspire skeptical beginners, Janeite experts, and every reader in between, by showcasing some of the greatest sentences ever crafted in the history of fiction.