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A Better Title for Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park?

There is a fabulous and funny blog out there called Better Book Titles, by Dan Wilbur, a comedian and writer – he says:

This blog is for people who do not have thousands of hours to read book reviews or blurbs or first sentences. I will cut through all the cryptic crap, and give you the meat of the story in one condensed image. Now you can read the greatest literary works of all time in mere seconds!

A new Better Book Title will be posted every weekday. Every Friday a reader’s submission will be posted. Redesign and titles by Dan Wilbur unless credited otherwise. Please use proper credits when reprinting.

 It is well-worth your time to sort through the posts [you can also search for an author – go to bottom of page and click on “Archives” and a search screen will appear at the top of the page] – as expected, the Brontes are quite funny and spot-on:

[Charlotte Bronte – Jane Eyre]

as is Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge:

Here is one of my laugh-out-loud favorites:

[Roald Dahl – James and the Giant Peach]

and this:

 [Norton Anthology of English Literature ]

and who can resist this by Virginia Woolf?

[ Virginia Woolf – The Waves ]

But what of Jane Austen? – well, she has only one title represented, and this a reader submission [ by Henry Schenker ] last November:

 [ Jane Austen – Mansfield Park ]

…which we can all appreciate! But surely Mr. Wilbur can come up with something for Austen’s other titles! – is it perhaps that he just can’t bring himself to read her books? – at any rate, what might you submit for an Austen “better book title”?? – put on your thinking caps and comment below!

All images from the Better Book Titles website, which you must visit – check out all the Shakespeare…

You can follow Mr. Wilbur on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/betterbooktitle

Copyright @2011 Deb Barnum, of Jane Austen in Vermont

15 thoughts on “A Better Title for Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park?”

  1. Lol!
    Here are a few lame attempts from me:

    P&P= Married: With five daughters(someone marry them please!)
    Emma= Bored in a small town/The Queen of Nowhere’sbury
    Persuasion= The Eliot Pride&very Prejudice/The eight year wait/The Snobs
    S&S= Dashing after Dashwoods
    Mansfield= Everyone’s(nearly) 6th Favorite Austen novel/Tales of a Nobody(ok, too mean)
    Northanger: Gothic is so out of fashion

    Cheers!
    Kirk

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    • Ha! These are great Kirk! – and right off the top of your head it seems – I just posted this! – you should perhaps submit them to the Better Book Titles site? – [I think you also need to actually submit a design of the title page as well, so you have your work cut out for you!]

      Thanks for my daily chuckle!
      Deb

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  6. P & P- Conceit: Two Differing Views
    Emma- Matrimonial Affairs Cannot Be Left to the Individuals Concerned
    Sense and Sensibility- Is it Really Better to Be Silent and Be Thought a Fool or Open Your Mouth and Remove All Doubt?
    Persuasion- Hope Springs Anew After an Awful Eight Years
    Northanger Abbey- Is This Place Spooky or Is It Just Me?
    Mansfield Park- What Will the Kids Get Up To While We’re Gone?

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  8. These are great!
    I don’t know what I would do without my Norton Anthology of English Literature.
    127 hours of skimming is spot on! Haha!

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  9. Pingback: The Penny Post Weekly Review ~ All Things Austen! « Jane Austen in Vermont

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