Flirting with Pride & Prejudice: Fresh Perspectives on the Original… (2005)

Flirting with Pride & Prejudice is a delightful collection of writings celebrating Jane Austen. Editor Jennifer Crusie’s lively introduction sets the tone. The short pieces vary widely in style: there is fiction, short analyses, humorous rewritings, and personal reminiscences. Everything is, of course, inspired by Austen, and everything is about Pride and Prejudice.
The readers are likely to develop their favorites, just as they have their favorite Jane Austen stories and characters. That is one of the strengths of this collection: there is something for everybody. I’m sure you will laugh out loud, and maybe even find new favorite authors to read.
EJ 02/2011

A collection of essays (and handful of short stories) from chick-lit and modern literary authors assesses the classic Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice. It's a fun light-hearted criticism of the book, addressing it from a modern perspective, even going so far as to imagine what it might be like if Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters had to deal with cell phones or if the book was actually a reality TV show. Some of the essays are better than others, but most of them were easy reads with enough I-hadn't-thought-about-it-that-way throughout to hold my interest. ( )

A fresh take on an old classic. I really enjoyed all the different stories, each one from some else's perspective. My favorite story was "My Firth Love". This book made me laugh and in the end I think about P&P in a whole different way. ( )

It's edited by Jennifer Crusie, but the 24 short pieces are by a variety of authors. It's a mix of essays and short stories in response to Price and Prejudice. I suppose the short stories qualify as fanfic, as they take the characters from the novel. Some of the stories are set in the world of P&P, and others transport the characters to modern time. Crusie is a smart, funny writer, so it's no surprise that she's put together a smart, funny collection. I'll never look at Mary Bennet the same way again.

A fresh take on an old classic. I really enjoyed all the different stories, each one from some else's perspective. My favorite story was "My Firth Love". This book made me laugh and in the end I think about P&P in a whole different way. ( )