A comprehensive look at the academic criticism of Jane Austen from her time down to the present. Among the most important English novelists, Jane Austen is unusual because she is esteemed not only by academics but by the reading public. Her novels continue to sell well, and films adapted from her works enjoy strong box-officesuccess. The trajectory of Austen criticism is intriguing, especially when one compares it to that of other nineteenth-century English writers. At least partly because she was a woman in the early nineteenth century, she was longneglected by critics, hardly considered a major figure in English literature until well into the twentieth century, a hundred years after her death. Yet consequently she did not suffer from the reaction against Victorianism thatdid so much to hurt the reputation of Dickens, Tennyson, Arnold, and others. How she rose to prominence among academic critics - and has retained her position through the constant shifting of academic and critical trends - is a story worth telling, as it suggests not only something about Austen's artistry but also about how changes in critical perspective can radically alter a writer's reputation. Laurence W. Mazzeno is President Emeritus of Alvernia University, Reading, Pennsylvania.

[This book] admirably succeeds in its primary goal to present a wide-ranging account of Austen's critical fortunes suitable for non-specialist readers, such as undergraduate students, postgraduate students and scholars from other fields. . . . As well as being extremely reader friendly, it frequently makes useful connections that enhance understanding of the critical conversations that took place over many years. . . . [A] comprehensive, easy-to-use reference that is also an excellent starting point for new research on Austen's life and work. * WOMEN'S HISTORY REVIEW *
[W]ill make shelf-challenged booklovers willingly dust off more space. . . . [A] useful tool for assessing past writings and approaches, a solid base upon which to build further scholarship. * JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA NEWSLETTER *
A seminal work of academic excellence and an especially recommended addition to personal and academic library reference collections and reading lists. * MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW *
A generous, articulate, well-organized, and, amazingly, . . . inviting survey of biography and exegesis. . . . Mazzeno's study is capacious and comprehensive in range and witness. * WORDSWORTH CIRCLE *

LAURENCE W. MAZZENO is President Emeritus of Alvernia University.