Yeoman's in the Fork Blog

As one of my co-workers was perusing an online article of author-on-author putdowns, he ran across a few of Mark Twain completely dismissing Jane Austen as a valid writer.

"Just the omission of Jane Austen's books alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it."

“Every time I read ‘Pride and Prejudice,’ I want to dig her up and hit her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”

Being a professed "Jane-ite" who is very vocal about her love of all things Austen, I was expected to be in an uproar after hearing these quotes. I must say that as much as I love Jane Austen, I find these quotes positively hilarious. I truly believe that Jane Austen herself would have bowled over in laughter after hearing those lines. Much like Twain, Austen didn't take herself very seriously. Even her personal letters are dripping with self-deprecating sarcasm and wit. In fact, I would go so far as to say that had they ever met, they would have gotten along famously. Author Emily Auerbach has asserted that despite all his moaning to the contrary, they were more alike than not in observing and depicting human foibles and relying on humor to best express their views. Auerbach compares Twain and Austen to the pairing of Bogart and Hepburn in the film The African Queen: Twain "the irrepressible riverboat pilot, and Austen, the tea-drinking maiden aunt." My only regret is that we will never be able to hear Austen's ready quip in response to Twain's opinions.