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Camp Austen
Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan | Ted Scheinman
28 posts | 19 read | 42 to read
A raucous tour through the world of Mr. Darcy imitations, tailored gowns, and tipsy ballroom dancing The son of a devoted Jane Austen scholar, Ted Scheinman spent his childhood summers eating Yorkshire pudding, singing in an Anglican choir, and watching Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy. Determined to leave his mothers world behind, he nonetheless found himself in grad school organizing the first ever UNC-Chapel Hill Jane Austen Summer Camp, a weekend-long event that sits somewhere between an academic conference and superfan extravaganza. While the long tradition of Austen devotees includes the likes of Henry James and E. M. Forster, it is at the conferences and reenactments where Janeism truly lives. In Camp Austen, Scheinman tells the story of his indoctrination into this enthusiastic world and his struggle to shake his mothers influence while navigating hasty theatrical adaptations, undaunted scholars in cravats, and unseemly petticoat fittings. In a haze of morning crumpets and restrictive tights, Scheinman delivers a hilarious and poignant survey of one of the most enduring and passionate literary coteries in history. Combining clandestine journalism with frank memoir, academic savvy with insider knowledge, Camp Austen is perhaps the most comprehensive study of Austen that can also be read in a single sitting. Brimming with stockings, culinary etiquette, and scandalous dance partners, this is summer camp like youve never seen it before.
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Traci1
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Panpan

⭐⭐
This book was disappointing. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't an academic dissertation. While there were a couple of moderately humorous stories and a particularly charming one, they were far too brief and few to make up for the drudge of the rest of the book.

I got about 7 1/2 hours in yesterday, and I'm hoping to reach at least 16 today for the #24b4Monday.

@Andrew65
@Clwojick
@jb72
@SumisBooks

Andrew65 Good luck with your target for today. 😊👍 4y
Traci1 @Andrew65 thank you 4y
54 likes1 stack add2 comments
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inthegreensandblues
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Reading about Jane Austen and Janeites by the pool. Feels appropriate for a hotel-spa that was an historic destination for the "healing mineral waters." ?#spaday #staycation #pemberlittens

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Sharpeipup
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While waiting for the local Christmas parade, I started on this #tbr #wintergames #teamfozziwig @StayCurious @Clwojick @BarkingMadRun

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CogsOfEncouragement
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Pickpick

I just finished reading seven Austen novels with the #ArdentlyAustenBookClub. This was a short, easy, fun non-fiction to cap that off. Though I could never hold my own at an Austen event, and I do not have the novels ranked by favorites, I fully admit to getting bent out of shape when someone harshly criticizes Austen‘s work. And at the same moment realize I should have no reason to take the criticism personally.

smilingshelves I've got this one on my list to read later this year. I'm rereading all of Austen's books by listening to them on audio for the first time. This book looks like such a fun one to finish up with! 5y
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Lauram
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Tonight, I‘m taking advantage of a quiet hotel room with an interesting book and a solid plan for my next meal.

charl08 Sounds like heaven. 5y
62 likes1 comment
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NotCool
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Pickpick

So many readers I respect swear Austen‘s stuff is amazing. But when I pick up her books I get a few pages in and throw them against the wall screaming “I don‘t care who you marry! I don‘t care! Please, for the love of god, someone plan a jewel heist, join the circus, solve a crime, anything!!! Do something!” This is a me problem. But it makes it harder to get into books on Austen. This one was ok.

julesG ??? My mind of person! I can handle only so much "tranquility" and try not to overdo Austen. 5y
julesG Lovely, autocorrect made "mind" out of "kind". I swear, autocorrect, one day I'll just switch you off. 5y
NotCool I wrote “Jane Austin” like the city in Texas several times while writing my review. 5y
6 likes3 comments
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Lauram
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1. Camp Austen by Ted Scheinman and listening to The Threat by Andrew McCabe

2. Captain Marvel

3. Masala Chai

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

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Bookish_B
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Mehso-so

I haven't technically finished reading it but I'm more than halfway and it's a short read. I had been expecting a light, quirky romp but it's not really that. It's a bit more academic albeit funny in parts. It's not bad but I feel the description is misleading 🤷🏻‍♀️

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danimgill
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Pickpick

This was a quick read about the author‘s 18-month sojourn into the world of Jane Austen conferences and superfan gatherings after his mom (an Austen scholar) had to drop out of attending. I never felt completely engaged by his journalistic writing voice but the subject matter is certainly interesting!

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inthegreensandblues
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Gift I received today from a good friend. ❤️
I love this cover art so much 😄

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MicrobeMom
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Pickpick

I thought this was fun and intellectual. It is clear the Scheinman is a scholar and excellent writer. I liked the inside look into Janeites and the Jane Austen background.

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Expandingbookshelf
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that a good doggo in possession of a squishable face must be in want of a bacon treat. 🐶 🥓💙

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MicrobeMom
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Gus and I are starting this tonight. So far extremely well written and interesting. And I am only 22 pages in!

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Expandingbookshelf
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Those of us who never attended a Jane Austen conference-we have been missing out.

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Expandingbookshelf
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One of the panelists began to quote the first line of “Pride and Prejudice.” “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”- and by “acknowledged” the full audience joined in. Seventy/plus adults intoning this sentence is wonderful and creepy in equal measure; think the Nicene Creed, delivered by ebullient zombies. 🤣💜📖

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Eyelit
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Awww! I got home to surprise #bookmail from my lovely #litsypenpal @Laura317 😍😍😍
You‘re so thoughtful, Laura! I love everything. And this is such a great way to start a weekend!
This is also a helpful reminder to get back on the letter writing bandwagon, I‘m very behind on correspondence.
(Also enjoy the #catsoflitsy photobomb- Tilney apparently couldn‘t help himself 😸)

Laura317 @Eyelit I am glad it made it! And I always love a cat photo bomb. Next time, I‘ll have to slip something in for Tilney and Eliot (did I spell that right?). 6y
77 likes1 comment
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DebinHawaii
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My breakfast/brunch with two good friends, one visiting from Seattle, turned into shopping, the farmers market, coffee & a snack & more visiting & then home to do chores & take a too brief nap. Saturday went by too fast but it was worth it. Going to try to stay awake & read tonight & eat 🍿for dinner. This is my book haul for the week--bottom 4 are library holds ( I blamed the tagged book on @LeahBergen 😉) & top 3 are #bookmail #ARCs for review.

rjsthumbelina I went to college with Cindy Graham! She's a fantastic person. I really need to read her books (tagging one of her other books bc the new one isn't in the database here yet) 6y
DebinHawaii @rjsthumbelina Very cool! She is wonderful. Very sweet when we have connected when I've reviewed her books. The is the third book in the series you tagged. They are great, quick reads. This one is not in the series but one of my favorites: 6y
rubyslippersreads I want to read the tagged book too. #blameitonleahbergen 😂 @LeahBergen 6y
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jant.reads
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This is a fun peek into the world of people who love to dress up as Jane Austen‘s contemporaries, mingle with Austen scholars, dance as they did then, and load up on fan merchandise. Her books and characters are sources of endless delight and discussion. The author represented his mother, a noted scholar, after she was sidelined and provided one more man on the dance floor. Very enjoyable

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LeahBergen
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I started this on the flight home from Portland and so far ... so good. I‘m thinking I‘d enjoy going to an Austen camp or conference (if for no other reason than the stellar people-watching!).

Melissa_J Can I come with you? I‘d love to go to an Austenland type ‘camp‘ 😊 6y
DebinHawaii This looks really fun. I am torn on whether or not an Austen camp or experience would be a good idea.🤔But yes, the people watching would be stellar! 6y
Leftcoastzen Love the Book mark! 6y
See All 12 Comments
LeahBergen @Melissa_J Yes! Wouldn‘t it be fun? I only want to go if that guy is there (from the movie) who‘s always taking off his shirt. 😂 6y
LeahBergen @DebinHawaii Yes, I‘d definitely watch from the sidelines (and not be dressed in full Regency regalia) 😆 6y
LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen I grabbed a few different ones from Powell‘s. They‘re awesome! 6y
RealLifeReading This looks like a fun read! 6y
rubyslippersreads I'm not much of a camper, but I might make an exception for this camp. 😄 6y
LeahBergen @RealLifeReading I enjoyed it! It‘s very short but manages to bring in lots of Austen minutiae. 6y
LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads Oh, me too! I like camping in 5 ⭐️ hotels. 😆 6y
rubyslippersreads @LeahBergen Exactly! If there's no room service, I consider that "roughing it"! ? 6y
TrishB That‘s my sort of camping too! 6y
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BeckyK
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@BookishMe This has just arrived through TBD!! You‘re too kind. Thank you so much! 😊💛

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brennahawleycraig
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Posting late because I did some traveling, but loved my #janeaustenswap package from @BooksTeaRobin !! I‘ve always wanted this edition of P&P 😍 and cannot wait to read the tagged book as well! #jas @sprainedbrain @mabell

mabell Lovely gifts! ❤️ And that bookmark! 😍😍 6y
sprainedbrain Yet another Austenesque book to add to my tbr. Lovely gifts! ❤️ 6y
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awonderinglife
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Mehso-so

Anything to do with Jane Austen is usually put straight into my reading pile and this was no exception. I loved the style and structure but it really went nowhere - a bit too meandering and purposeless for my liking unfortunately.

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Librarybelle
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There‘s nothing accidental about my Austen superfan status, but definitely something I would want to read. And yes, I buy nonfiction for my library system, so I can say we have a pretty good collection of Austen related material... 😊

Melissa_J Stacked! 7y
Suetara I checked out my library‘s copy of this book about a week ago. Looks interesting! 7y
Librarybelle @Suetara It looks like it will be a fast read. I hope to fit it between longer reads. 7y
95 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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WanderingBookaneer
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Curious about this one as one usually associates Austen super fans with females.

Bookish_B I've had my eye on this one too. 7y
84 likes7 stack adds1 comment
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KikiLovesBooks
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Pickpick

4* This is a charming little book. Tim's mom, an Austen expert and aficionado, asks her son to step in for her at a Jane Austen "camp" at a college in North Carolina. Since he read Austen early on, and spent part of his childhood in the UK, this isn't a stretch, but he does quickly learn how in-demand a male presence as a Janeite event is! Tim makes great observations about Austen fans of all types. It also made me want to get a bonnet...

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Graciouswarriorprincess
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I picked this up today. Who knew that this is a Jane Austen summer camp in my backyard at UNC Chapel Hill!

LeahBergen I need this! ❤️ 7y
GatheringBooks one of my very good friends taught at UNC chapel hill - geography - and he used to deejay as well in the campus radio station. :) 7y
Graciouswarriorprincess @GatheringBooks So cool, it really is a small world! 7y
62 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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balletbookworm
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Pickpick

A sweet book about a journalist/academic who grew up around Jane Austen academics/fandom (his mom) winds up helping at the inaugural Jane Austen Summer Camp in grad school. By dint of being a) the son of a prominent Janeite and b) a reasonably decent-looking younger person of the male persuasion (of which there aren‘t many at Janeite gigs) he winds up getting immersed in the fandom for a good 18 months.

balletbookworm It‘s partially a love-letter to a thing his mom loves, which he likes but isn‘t his passion, and how something like the Janeite fandom works (very surface level compared to something like Deborah Yaffe‘s Among the Janeites which gets into all the crevices). Scheinman is blessedly free from the “Jane Austen‘s books are silly ladies novels and not for dudes” attitude. 7y
29 likes3 stack adds1 comment