Saving Jane Austen: A Comedie Grotesque

by Daniel Curzon

Jane Austen did not die in 1817. Her head and neck were miraculously preserved at a Cryonics facility in Zurich, Switzerland (formerly Swisserland). Recently discovered (September 10, 2010), the famed authoress has been revived and has returned to reside in her beloved England and at last begun a new novel, entitled Regency Scenes of Dissipation and Vice. However, the burning literary question is can she finish her novel when her tranquility, her civility, and even her very life are threatened by the contemporary dangers surrounding her at rented Austen House. These include Hans-Axl, her neo-Nazi care-giver, the Sharia-loving fundamentalists next door, blatant libertines everywhere, the filthy paparazzi hounding Miss Austen, and worse. All she has to assist her are a butch lesbian amanuensis and a ninety-year-old American rare book dealer, and perhaps the Internet. Told in e-mails, this book contains a tale that combines both quaint Regency charm and a good deal of modern edge.

452 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2012

About the author

Born Daniel Russell Brown, Curzon is an American author and playwright.

Curzon has published stories in The Kenyon Review, Descant, Christopher Street, The Oregon Review, Pannus Index, and many other magazines. His stories have been anthologized in Mae West Is Dead (Faber and Faber), Man of My Dreams (Chronicle Books), Aphrodisiac (Coward-McCann), and several other collections.

His play "Godot Arrives" won the 1999 National New Play Contest Award from the Southwest Theatre Association.

Reviews

[Virginia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I attempted to read this book several times but found the whole thing rather unappealling. I thought I would like the email format, as it was something different, but it just didn't do it for me. Plus the characters attitudes were all so pompous that I couldn't relate or like them. Overall, just not my cup of tea.

** I received this book in exchange for a review **

[Emily (Heinlen) Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general point of this book is interesting; however, I did not find that I enjoyed it. The book is less story and more correspondence between individuals. To me, that lacks something. It takes away from the process of storytelling. I didn't find this book to be my taste.