strange and random happenstance

Earlier this year when I Am Not Okay With This debuted I admit I was suffering superhero fatigue. I mean, seriously, why do we need so many films and shows churning out the same story over and over again? So a story about a young girl, Sydney Novak, dealing with sudden powers did not feel like something I wanted to watch. Again. Enter my book club, and the fact that almost every single member started harassing me to watch this superhero origin story. I think they might have even threatened me, which I of course forgave as soon as I watched the show. I Am Not Okay With This reinvents the superhero origin story for those with superhero fatigue. It's a coming of age tale that just happens to have supernatural elements. I have since become a spokesperson for this show demanding everyone I know to watch it. The way I catch them is by saying it's as if John Hughes and David Lynch decided to make a show together. Because that is seriously the vibe. The teen angst, the music, the mysteries, the full out Carrie dance! What makes it even more special is that it's about not just Sydney struggling with her new powers, it's her struggling with who she is, and in particular her sexual orientation as she realizes she has feelings for her best friend Dina. This show is just unabashedly fun and inclusive and wonderful and Netflix I am still BEYOND pissed with you for cancelling this delightful series. Yes, I have the graphic novel to still read, but that isn't enough. I want more teen angst, I want to know who that stranger at the end offering to help Sydney was, and most importantly, I want more Stanley Barber. Stanley Barber has entered my pantheon of great geeky boys. He joins such luminaries as Duckie and Bill Haverchuck. Keep on being you Stanley. Keep on being you.   

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bill Haverchuck, Book Clubs, Carrie, David Lynch, Duckie, Freaks and Geeks, I Am Not Okay With This, John Hughes, Netlfix, Stranger Things, Superhero, Superhero Fatigue, Syndey Novak

The Andromeda Evolution by Daniel H. Wilson
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fifty years after The Andromeda Strain made Michael Crichton a household name - and spawned a new genre, the technothriller - the threat returns, in a gripping sequel that is terrifyingly realistic and resonant. The Evolution is Coming.

In 1967, an extraterrestrial microbe came crashing down to Earth and nearly ended the human race. Accidental exposure to the particle - designated The Andromeda Strain - killed every resident of the town of Piedmont, Arizona, save for an elderly man and an infant boy. Over the next five days, a team of top scientists assigned to Project Wildfire worked valiantly to save the world from an epidemic of unimaginable proportions. In the moments before a catastrophic nuclear detonation, they succeeded.

In the ensuing decades, research on the microparticle continued. And the world thought it was safe...

Deep inside Fairchild Air Force Base, Project Eternal Vigilance has continued to watch and wait for the Andromeda Strain to reappear. On the verge of being shut down, the project has registered no activity - until now. A Brazilian terrain-mapping drone has detected a bizarre anomaly of otherworldly matter in the middle of the jungle, and, worse yet, the tell-tale chemical signature of the deadly microparticle.

With this shocking discovery, the next-generation Project Wildfire is activated, and a diverse team of experts hailing from all over the world is dispatched to investigate the potentially apocalyptic threat.

But the microbe is growing - evolving. And if the Wildfire team can’t reach the quarantine zone, enter the anomaly, and figure out how to stop it, this new Andromeda Evolution will annihilate all life as we know it."

Damn, sometimes I miss Michael Crichton so much it hurts.

Otherlife by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller
Published by: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Return to the series BuzzFeed compared to Ready Player One with the third book in the fast-paced trilogy from New York Times bestselling authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller that's perfect for fans of HBO's Westworld.

Simon, Kat, Busara, and Elvis are on the run with the tech super-villains at the Company hot on their heels. The new VR gaming experience the Company created, OtherEarth, will change how the world experiences gaming. Paired with the hardware the Company developed, it has the potential to alter our reality forever.

The Company is on its way to becoming the world's newest superpower. And Simon is determined to shut them down forever. But to do that, he'll have to survive OtherLife - the next phase of gaming, and a complete reality reboot."

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Jason Segel? Because seriously, I love him so much, just finished re-watching Freaks and Geeks and am in need a a Jason fix, and this fits the bill!

A Sanctuary of Spirits by Leanna Renee Hieber
Published by: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 256 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"New York, 1899, and the police department's best ally is the secret Ghost Precinct, where spirits and psychics help solve the city's most perplexing crimes...

There's more than one way to catch a killer-though the methods employed by the NYPD's Ghost Precinct, an all-female team of psychics and spiritualists led by gifted young medium Eve Whitby, are unconventional to say the least. Eve is concerned by the backlash that threatens the department-and by the discovery of an otherworldly realm, the Ghost Sanctuary, where the dead can provide answers. But is there a price to be paid for Eve and her colleagues venturing beyond the land of the living?

Searching for clues about a mortician's disappearance, Eve encounters a charismatic magician and mesmerist whose abilities are unlike any she's seen. Is he a link to mysterious deaths around the city, or to the Ghost Sanctuary? Torn between the bonds of her team and her growing relationship with the dashing Detective Horowitz, Eve must discern truth from illusion and friend from foe, before another soul vanishes into the ether..."

Psychics and spiritualists fighting crime? I don't just want to read this book I want to live it!

Lethal Pursuit by Will Thomas
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"London, 1892 - Cyrus Barker is brought into a game of international espionage by the Prime Minister himself in the newest mystery in Will Thomas's beloved series.

Private enquiry agents Cyrus Barker and Thomas Llewelyn receive in the mail an unexplained key stamped with the letter Q. Barker, recognizing it for what it is, uses the key to unlock an anonymous door in the alleyway, which opens to an underground tunnel leading to Downing Street.

The Prime Minister has a small task for Cyrus Barker. A Foreign Office agent stole a satchel in Eastern Europe, but was then himself murdered at Charing Cross. The satchel contains a document desperately wanted by the German government, but while the agent was killed, the satchel remains in English hands. With a cold war brewing between England and Germany, it's in England's interest to return the document contained in the satchel to its original owners and keep it out of German hands.

The document is an unnamed first century gospel; the original owner is the Vatican. And the German government isn't the only group trying to get possession of it. With secret societies, government assassins, political groups, and shadowy figures of all sorts doing everything they can - attacks, murders, counter-attacks, and even massive street battles - to acquire the satchel and its contents, this small task might be beyond even the prodigious talents of Cyrus Barker."

Victorian John le Carré!

The Body on the Train by Frances Brody
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 332 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Frances Brody's eleventh Kate Shackleton mystery is sure to delight readers of Rhys Bowen and Jacqueline Winspear.

Two murders. A one-way ticket to trouble.

And it's up to Kate to derail the killer.

London, 1929. In the darkness before dawn, a railway porter, unloading a special train from Yorkshire, discovers a man's body, shot and placed in a sack. There are no means of identification to be found and as Scotland Yard hits a dead end, they call on the inimitable Kate Shackleton, a local sleuth, confident her local knowledge and investigative skills will produce results. But it's no easy task.

Suspicion of political intrigue and fears of unrest in the Yorkshire coalfields, impose secrecy on her already difficult task. The murder of a shopkeeper, around the same time, seems too much of a coincidence. The convicted felon was found with blood on his hands, but it's too tidy and Kate becomes convinced the police have the wrong man.

By then it's too late. Kate finds herself in a den of vipers. The real killer is still at large, and having tinkered with Kate's car, nearly causes her to crash. Not only that, but Scotland Yard has turned their back on her. As Kate edges toward the shocking truth, she's going to need all the strength and resourcefulness she can muster to uncover this sinister web of deceit."

For the Agatha Christie cozy fan in all of us. 

The Glass Thief by Gigi Pandian
Published by: Henery Press
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 274 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A locked-room mystery at a Paris mansion. A supposed ghost haunting a French family who looted treasure from Cambodia.

A reclusive thriller author writing a novel in honor of historian Jaya Jones--is it a work of fiction or a devious device to lure Jaya into solving a chilling mystery?

Three unsolved murders spanning seventy years have befallen the same French family, each taking place two nights before Christmas at their Paris mansion--and blamed on the family ghost.

When Jaya realizes the truth hits closer to home than she realized, she must risk everything as she flees San Francisco for France and Cambodia to find a missing sculpture known as the Serpent King and stop a flesh and blood killer."

I was sold at locked-room mystery in a Paris mansion, everything else is just icing on the cake.

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance by Daniel Wallace
Published by: Insight Editions
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 192 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Explore the creation of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Netflix’s highly-anticipated new prequel series from The Jim Henson Company, with this all-access look at the show’s journey to the screen.

Delving into the incredible creative process behind the series, this deluxe volume reveals how Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, legendary character and costume designer Brian Froud, and director Louis Leterrier brought Thra and its characters to life alongside the artists and puppeteers who are continuing the legacy of the original film.

Filled with exclusive interviews with the creative forces behind the show, plus concept art, set photography, puppet designs, and more, this is the definitive exploration of The Jim Henson Company’s epic return to Thra."

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is a perfect show and everything the original movie could have been with a better script. I can not wait to delve further into the amazing designs of Thra. 

Bowie's Bookshelf by John O'Connell
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three years before David Bowie died, he shared a list of 100 books that changed his life. His choices span fiction and nonfiction, literary and irreverent, and include timeless classics alongside eyebrow-raising obscurities.

In 100 short essays, music journalist John O’Connell studies each book on Bowie’s list and contextualizes it in the artist’s life and work. How did the power imbued in a single suit of armor in The Iliad impact a man who loved costumes, shifting identity, and the siren song of the alter-ego? How did The Gnostic Gospels inform Bowie’s own hazy personal cosmology? How did the poems of T.S. Eliot and Frank O’Hara, the fiction of Vladimir Nabokov and Anthony Burgess, the comics of The Beano and The Viz, and the groundbreaking politics of James Baldwin influence Bowie’s lyrics, his sound, his artistic outlook? How did the 100 books on this list influence one of the most influential artists of a generation?

Heartfelt, analytical, and totally original, Bowie’s Bookshelf is one part epic reading guide and one part biography of a music legend."

A few years back I went to the touring Bowie exhibit and it was apparent that he was inspired by everything he took in, in particular what he read. This little insight into his life is invaluable to a fuller understanding of this remarkable man.

Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge by Sheila Weller
Published by: Sarah Crichton Books
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A remarkably candid biography of the remarkably candid - and brilliant - Carrie Fisher.

In her 2008 bestseller, Girls Like Us, Sheila Weller - with heart and a profound feeling for the times - gave us a surprisingly intimate portrait of three icons: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. Now she turns her focus to one of the most loved, brilliant, and iconoclastic women of our time: the actress, writer, daughter, and mother Carrie Fisher.

Weller traces Fisher’s life from her Hollywood royalty roots to her untimely and shattering death after Christmas 2016. Her mother was the spunky and adorable Debbie Reynolds; her father, the heartthrob crooner Eddie Fisher. When Eddie ran off with Elizabeth Taylor, the scandal thrust little Carrie Frances into a bizarre spotlight, gifting her with an irony and an aplomb that would resonate throughout her life.

We follow Fisher’s acting career, from her debut in Shampoo, the hit movie that defined mid-1970s Hollywood, to her seizing of the plum female role in Star Wars, which catapulted her to instant fame. We explore her long, complex relationship with Paul Simon and her relatively peaceful years with the talent agent Bryan Lourd. We witness her startling leap - on the heels of a near-fatal overdose - from actress to highly praised, bestselling author, the Dorothy Parker of her place and time.

Weller sympathetically reveals the conditions that Fisher lived with: serious bipolar disorder and an inherited drug addiction. Still, despite crises and overdoses, her life’s work - as an actor, a novelist and memoirist, a script doctor, a hostess, and a friend - was prodigious and unique. As one of her best friends said, “I almost wish the expression ‘one of a kind’ didn’t exist, because it applies to Carrie in a deeper way than it applies to others.”

Sourced by friends, colleagues, and witnesses to all stages of Fisher’s life, Carrie Fisher: A Life on the Edge is an empathic and even-handed portrayal of a woman who - as Princess Leia, but mostly as herself - was a feminist heroine, one who died at a time when we need her blazing, healing honesty more than ever."

A while back now EW (because Entertainment Weekly seems to have forsaken the "weekly" and are now monthly) profiled this book and instantly I was like yes. This is a book I must read.

It's Garry Shandling's Book by Judd Apatow
Published by: Random House
Publication Date: November 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 472 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From Judd Apatow comes an intimate portrait of his mentor, the legendary stand-up comic and star of The Larry Sanders Show, with never-before-seen journal entries and photos, as well as new contributions by fellow comedians and writers.

Garry Shandling was a singular trailblazer in the comedy world. His two hit shows, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and The Larry Sanders Show, broke new ground and influenced future sitcoms like 30 Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm, and his stand-up laid the foundation for a whole new generation of comics. There’s no one better to tell Shandling’s story than Judd Apatow - Shandling gave Apatow one of his first jobs and remained his mentor for the rest of his life - and the book expands on Apatow’s Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary, The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling.

Here, Apatow has gathered journal entries, photographs, and essays for a close-up look at the artist who turned his gaze back onto the world of show business. Beyond his success, though, Shandling struggled with fame, the industry of art, and the childhood loss of his brother, which forever affected his personal and professional lives. His diaries show Shandling to be self-aware and insightful, revealing a deep philosophical and spiritual side. Contributions by comedians and other leading lights of the industry, as well as people who grew up with Shandling, along with never-before-seen pieces of scripts and brilliant jokes that he never performed, shed new light on every facet of his life and work. This book is the final word on the lasting impact of the great Garry Shandling."

How old were you when you realized Garry Shandling spelled his name with two "R's"? I was today years old.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, Frances Brody, Freaks and Geeks, Garry Shandling, Gigi Pandian, Jason Segel, Judd Apatow, Kirsten Miller, Leanna Renee Hieber, Michael Crichton, The Dark Crystal, Will Thomas

Bookstore: Anderson's Bookshop

Location: Downers Grove, Illinois

Why I Love Them: Anderson's Bookshop is the Midwest mecca for book buyers wanting to support independent bookstores. The West Coast has Powell's, the South has Murder by the Book, but Illinois, and therefore the Midwest has Anderson's. I only wish it was a tad closer, but then I'd always be broke because they literally have events every night that I want to attend. I believe the first time Anderson's got on my radar was back in 2009 when Philippa Gregory was on tour promoting The White Queen. Why I hadn't heard of them prior is probably because 2009 is when my book addiction really started to go into overdrive and resulted in my starting this blog and as a result I started stalking authors. And stalking authors, I mean supporting them by going to events, means sooner or later you're going to end up at Anderson's Bookshop. They have three locations in the suburbs of Chicago, a new location I have yet to visit in La Grange, an intimate store in Downers Grove where most of the events take place in the Tivoli Theater across the street, and their flagship store that's in Naperville. If you're going to visit their store and not a specific event totally go to the Naperville location, the town is charming and has a lovely river walk. While the store with it's cape code shingles might look like your quintessential small town bookstore, the sheer number of signed volumes inside will make you realize this isn't your normal bookstore.  

Best Buy: Getting to meet so many of my favorite authors over the years, in particular Robin LaFevers who is an all time favorite, means that picking a best buy is extremely hard. But then, in the end, like most things, it's really easy, because I met Jason Segel! I met Jason Freakin' Segel!!! Yes, Marshall from How I Met Your Mother, Nick from Freaks and Geeks, so many of my favorite roles have been brought to life by Jason Segel and I got to meet him! Why? Because he co-wrote a kids book, Nightmares! and was on tour promoting it! He was warm, funny, he even sang! I seriously loved this man from afar so much and meeting him in person made my crush even worse. Because on the darkest night of my life, he was there for me. My cat of 22 years died and I was destroyed. I just sat in front of the TV blankly staring until Jason caught my eye. I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall and my pain was slightly lessened. I knew my hell wouldn't last forever, much like the hell Jason's character was going through. Who knows, at the end there might even be vampire puppets... I told this story to Jason and he was so kind, and he listened, and seemed to genuinely care, and that made me realize how truly awesome he is. Here's someone who is a star and he cares about his fans, he made sure to not overlook the children in the audience with questions, which so many authors do. Your book Nightmares! isn't just a best buy, it's a cherished memory Jason.  

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anderson's Bookshop, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Freaks and Geeks, Illinois, Jason Segel, Naperville, Nightmares, Philippa Gregory, Robin LaFevers, Support Your Brick and Mortar, The White Queen

Lost in Austen
Release Date: September 3rd-24th, 2008
Starring: Jemima Rooper, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Daniel Percival, Gemma Arterton, Hugh Bonneville, Alex Kingston, Morven Christie, Ruby Bentall, Florence Hoath, Perdita Weeks, Michelle Duncan, Guy Henry, Tom Mison, Christina Cole, Elliot Cowan, Genevieve Gaunt, Rae Kelly Hill, and Lindsay Duncan
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Amanda Price is sick of the crassness and just general lack of manners in the modern world. Therefore whenever she can she escapes into the genteel world Jane Austen created in Pride and Prejudice. After a particularly unromantic proposal from her boyfriend the unexpected happens; Lizzy Bennet appears in her bathroom. At first she thinks she's gone mad, but Lizzy soon returns and is quick to enter Amanda's world while Amanda takes her place in the Bennet household. Though with Lizzy absent things quickly start to go awry. Mr. Bingley doesn't fall immediately for Jane and instead fixes his amorous attentions on Amanda. Amanda, being a true fan of the book, tries her hardest to right this wrong, even claiming she is a lesbian in order to unite the destined lovers. Amanda can see her presence is a baffling imposition and her "gifts" of insight after years of reading their story confuses all the characters around her. But she is determined to keep the story on it's track. Lizzy will return and marry Mr. Darcy and everything will be fine. Amanda meanwhile just has to not fall for the man she's been fantasizing about since she was twelve. And at first this is very easy. Darcy knows that there's something not right about Miss Price. She's forward, she's awkward, she's everything that he should be against, and yet, she's the one he wants to dance with. She's the one he's drawn to. But Amanda couldn't ruin the happily ever after of all happily ever afters could she? It's her duty as a fan of Jane Austen to live within the narrative as best she can. But what happens when the characters become real humans to her and love becomes the most important thing of all? 

If one looks at the fandom surrounding Jane Austen, the festivals in full costume, the balls recreated down to the tiniest details, it's clear that the greatest dream of any Janeite would be to find their way into one of her books. This would be the greatest wish fulfillment ever and that is what we get with Lost in Austen. Amanda Price as our avatar has stumbled upon this magical portal in her bathroom and what results is a trip down the rabbit role via Jasper Fforde and the cupboard to Narnia. Amanda gets the chance at catching Mr. Darcy, a dream that every girl for over two hundred years has dreamt upon picking up Pride and Prejudice. But what's so interesting about Lost in Austen is that Amanda is such a fangirl that while she is living her dream she is also trying to maintain the story's narrative. She is almost completely selfless as she keeps trying to keep everything intact while Lizzy is absent. All the while she is fighting her feelings for Darcy. Amanda is at sea when meeting the man she's loved since she was twelve. All these emotions coupled with knowing he is meant for a woman he has never met give us the pull on our heartstrings that the original story does, maintaining the "will they won't they" that is so necessary in keeping the narrative moving. Just like Lizzy she is fighting against what she really wants, and in the process this brassy and bolshy Brit wins our heart as well as Darcy's. When she gives in to her feelings it is sublime, because as Lady Catherine said, perhaps she was too scared to admit what she really wanted, and what Amanda really wanted, despite every instinct in her Pride and Prejudice loving body, was Darcy for herself.

This what-if story is so meta and so wonderful each time I watch it something else catches my eye. It's digging fully into the story that Austen wrote while also playing with every fangirl fantasy or idea that has been posited in two hundred years. Think of not just all the adaptations to film and stage over the years of Austen's work, think of all the alternative tellings, the retellings, the what-ifs, the and-thens, the fanfic, all of it, and yet somehow Lost in Austen found a unique and new story. This takes the characters as we know and love them and throws them on their heads. Some changes are purely for comedic value, such as Caroline Bingley's sapphic interests, others are more poignant, such as the true worth of Mr. Wickham, while still adhering to the strict narrative Austen wrote. Yet what I find most fascinating is that while you could spend years arguing who the "pride" and who the "prejudice" refer to among our hero and heroine, with Amanda we are given a character who has these faults as well. Because Amanda is belabored with her preconceptions of years of escaping into the pages of Pride and Prejudice. She sees the characters as Austen wrote them not thinking that they would have a life beyond the confines of the story. I often wonder when I'm not reading a book if the characters are just all sitting around waiting for me to read them so they can say their lines and act out the scenes or if perhaps they're off somewhere else having a good time until I come and force them into their proscribed roles. Here they are very much off having fun. They have unexpected first names, character traits that one would never expect, and most of all, even more humanity than you'd think a character out of a book could possess. And this throws Amanda for a loop. She is constantly fighting an uphill battle between what she expects, what should be, and what is, and I loved every second of it.       

Yet oddly enough it's Elizabeth Bennet that effects the story the most because of her absence. Pride and Prejudice without Elizabeth Bennet is almost like chaos theory in action. Yes, it's not the dire situation that Jasper Fforde shows in his first Thursday Next book, The Eyre Affair, because Jane Eyre is nothing without it's narrator, whereas without Elizabeth Bennet there are still enough characters to make up a story, it's just a very different one. Because Lizzy is the vibrant core of Pride and Prejudice, always keeping everyone in line with an arched eyebrow or a well placed smile. Without her everything is off, everyone feels off and comments on her absence being so unlike her. And that is my one problem with Lost in Austen, Lizzy leaving. Yes, there is a mutual need that Amanda and Lizzy feel for each other, a desire to be in the others place in some version of Freaky Friday, yet I think Lizzy's need is out of character. Yes, she would fare very well in our modern times, yet she is about family and loyalty and caring for those she loves. How can she justify just leaving them behind and throwing Amanda in their place? I seriously don't get it. As I've said before the adaptation is all about exploring the way the characters are different outside the lines that Austen has drawn for us yet with Lizzy it's like her lines were erased and an entirely new character who is more than a little selfish was drawn in her place. In her modern life she's a nanny and taking care of a family, so why would she take care of this family and not her own? Later when she is able to discuss things with her father it makes a little more sense, but up until then I just don't feel Lizzy's presence. And perhaps they did this on purpose, because if Lizzy were truly herself you'd never root for Amanda and Darcy. But still, my heart breaks for Charlotte Lucas.     

But, much like Pride and Prejudice, this adaptation is a fine balance of comedy with the obligatory ripping out of your heart and gleefully trampling on it. The modern Amanda and her clashes with what the past lacks, especially in regard to dental health, is where the comedy really lies for the first two episodes. Her observations on things she would have never guessed at, like how revolting Mr. Collins really is, or how her randomly misplaced modern vernacular would effect Lydia, or how, like in Austenland, the only song she can perform is wonderfully modern and anachronistic, this are comedic highlights. Yet as the adaptation proceeds the comedy gives way to the heartfelt. The stark truths, such as Darcy having to marry a virgin, and what happens when Bingley becomes unhinged because of Jane's fate. Also, the knowing how it's supposed to be versus what it has become isn't just a thorn in Amanda's side but a knife to the heart. The scene where Jane pleads with Bingley to be happy for the both of them because she never will be, I dare you not to ugly cry. Lost in Austen taps into those universal truths of love and despair that Austen herself wrote about and that makes this adaptation shine. It is so different from Austen, it takes such liberties, and I know this might annoy some viewers, but down in it's bones it shares the same DNA. But I wouldn't expect anything less from the writer, Guy Andrews, looking at his track record he has worked on some of my favorite British shows, but most importantly is Blandings. This was adapted from the Blandings books by P.G. Wodehouse and shows a similar comedic base that taps into true feeling while also strongly hinging on nostalgia.

Though I must sadly end in a rant. This rant has to do with the DVD release. As you have obviously read here on my blog I have issues with substandard releases. What I want is the show as it originally aired in the best quality possible preferably in a really pretty package. That's why I actually am advising you to not buy this release because it is not complete. As anyone who pays attention to DVD releases knows one of the hardest things is licensing of music. I'm not talking about music written for the show but the popular songs and standards that appear in it. Look to the TV show Freaks and Geeks. The DVD release was delayed years because they refused to release the show in any format other than the one that aired, and hence I was a happy camper when I bought my DVD set and all the beloved eighties songs were there. Other shows take a more lackadaisical approach. Look to Northern Exposure, a show which was lauded for it's use of music when it aired and yet the DVD sets, well, the music is noticeably absent and filler music is used, thus making the show less than. Other shows that I've long awaited like Ashes to Ashes I have a feeling will never be released in the US because of the copious amount of eighties songs used and yet I couldn't buy the set unless ever single song was there because it wouldn't be the same. Two of the best jokes in Lost in Austen are destroyed because of these omissions on the DVD. The first is just a quick side joke in that Amanda's ring tone is the theme from the Andrew Davies adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. But the second is a more egregious error. When Amanda is asked to sing she sings Petula Clark's "Downtown." Yes, it's very funny and watching the DVD when it skips from Amanda being asked to sing to the party at Netherfield Park clapping for her I was taken aback. It's not just the removal of this hilarious scene but what the song comes to mean, especially for Bingley in his search for peace after losing Jane that makes the removal unconscionable. Of course there's still time to fix this... just a nice BluRay release, song intact. That's all I ask for. Please?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amanda Price, Bicentenary Ball, Blandings, Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, Freaks and Geeks, Jane Austen, Jasper Fforde, Jemima Rooper, Lost in Austen, Pride and Prejudice, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Eyre Affair