Exactly when the glut of Jane Austen literary takeoffs utilizing bloodsucking vampires, groaning zombies, enraged pharmacists, psychotic webmasters, possessed iPhone apps or whatever ridiculous modern trendy twist comes next will end is anybody’s guess. One thing’s sure, and that’s people are still reading the original Austen books. Indispensable to the Austen fan is Susannah Carson’s magnetic anthology A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Why We Read Jane Austen, in which 33 writers from Eudora Welty and Virginia Woolf to Somerset Maugham and C. S. Lewis dwell on the majesty and details of Austen’s work. Amy Heckerling tells how she adapted Emma into the 1996 movie Clueless, while contemporary writers like Anna Quindlan extract specific plot points and character traits for an engaging portrait of Austen’s appeal. Carson discusses the book on Thursday, Jan. 21, at Copperfield’s Books. 3900a Bel Aire Plaza, Hwy. 29, at Trancas St., Napa. 7pm. Free. 707.252.8002.Gabe Meline
.Jan. 21: Susannah Carson at Copperfield’s Books
