“A glance along the ‘A’ shelf of any good bookshop will reveal a dizzying array of books on Jane Austen: study guides, biographies, source books, companions … [She has also inspired] board games, tarot card decks, figurines, Web sites, discussion forums, book club meetings, Empire-waist fashions.” And, of course, “[n]ever before, perhaps, has so small an oeuvre (she wrote six novels) launched so many academic careers.”