Here we come to know Jane Austen by the company she keeps: her predecessors Fielding, Sterne, Lennox, and Burney, her contemporary Scott, and her successors Waugh and Amis—comic novelists all. And comedy is the connection between these twelve elegant essays by the distinguished academic Bruce Stovel, who most lovingly engages Austen herself through his studies of her comic novels, her art of conversation, her pleasure principle, and her prayers. Edited by Nora Foster Stovel, the collection includes an introduction by Juliet McMaster and an afterword by Isobel Grundy. Introduction by Juliet McMaster. Afterword by Isobel Grundy.
Here we come to know Jane Austen by the company she keeps: her predecessors Fielding, Sterne, Lennox, and Burney, her contemporary Scott, and her successors Waugh and Amis—comic novelists all. And comedy is the connection between these twelve elegant essays by the distinguished academic Bruce Stovel, who most lovingly engages Austen herself through his studies of her comic novels, her art of conversation, her pleasure principle, and her prayers. Edited by Nora Foster Stovel, the collection includes an introduction by Juliet McMaster and an afterword by Isobel Grundy. Introduction by Juliet McMaster. Afterword by Isobel Grundy.
Bruce Stovel (1941–2007) was Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Alberta. He co-edited two collections of essays on Austen and contributed to The Cambridge Companion to Jane Austen. Stovel's passion for teaching, literature, and blues music was celebrated in Jane Austen Sings the Blues. Nora Foster Stovel is a Professor Emerita in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. She has published on Jane Austen, D.H. Lawrence, Margaret Drabble, Carol Shields, Margaret Atwood, and Margaret Laurence. University of Alberta Press published her critical editions of Margaret Laurence’s Heart of a Stranger and Long Drums and Cannons: Nigerian Dramatists and Novelists and three edited collections: Jane Austen Sings the Blues, Jane Austen & Company, and The Creation of iGiselle: Classical Ballet Meets Contemporary Video Games. She lives in Edmonton.
"Long an admirer of Jane Austen, I picked up this book because of its title alone. Scholarly books can be daunting, confusing and sometimes dry, so imagine my surprise when I opened the pages of Jane Austen & Company and discovered that the writing sparkled. The author's love for the works mentioned in his collection spills over and captivated me... Stovel's essays scintillate and so they should. If laughter can be defined as a spontaneous movement in expressing lively amusement, then the aforementioned authors and others in this book have succeeded, and Bruce Stovel's appreciation of what they have accomplished makes me want to pick up The Odyssey and wonder on the disguises of its hero, or Pride and Prejudice and chuckle at the antics of Mr. Collins, or Lucky Jim and enjoy Jim Dixon's journey to self-revelation - to read the books with new eyes and exit laughing." Mary Barnes, Prairie Fire Review of Books, Vol. 11, No. 3 "The collection focuses on canonical authors of the 18th century, e.g., Sterne, Fielding, Burney, and Scott; authors of increasing interest like Charlotte Lennox; and several Jane Austen novels. The volume then skips the 19th century and most of the 20th, to close with essays on Waugh and Kingsley Amis... The essays are easy to read and have an informal tone, reflecting Stovel's facility with teaching, connections to his students, and desire to relate pedagogy and scholarship." R. Shapiro, City University of New York, Choice Magazine "The essays are easy to read and have an informal tone, reflecting Stovel's facility with teaching, connections to his students, and desire to relate pedagogy and scholarship". R. Shapiro, Choice Magazine "For lovers of Jane Austen, there is much to enjoy. The essays provide new and innovative approaches to the study of her novels and enrich the readers' understanding of her intentions and methods in general and as a comic author... The essays on Jane Austen are excellent and highly recommended. They greatly expand one's depth of knowledge and understanding of her novels and introduce new ways of thinking about her as a comic author. ... In total, the book is stimulating and beautifully written and does heighten awareness of what makes a comic novel. It is a great tribute to Bruce Stovel and of course to Jane Austen." Jenny Reeves, Sensibilities, December 2011 "... it was Austen who lured this passionate classicist into a life-long fascination with comic structure and vision. Stovel invites us to inhabit what he calls the 'holiday world of comedy,' writes Juliet McMaster in her affectionate introduction. Although he delighted in Fielding, Sterne, Lennox, Burney, Scott, Waugh, and Amis, Jane Austen was to him the consummate comic author." Jocelyn Harris, JASNA News, 2012
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