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It’s another one of those “Why didn’t I think of this?” moments, and this one goes out to all of our “Masterpiece Classic” fans here at WETA/PBS. Every woman I know loves Jane Austen. Every man I know loves zombies. Seth Grahame-Smith evidently understands this at a deep level, since he has become Jane Austen’s co-author on the stunning new novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Have you ever seen a cover that makes you want to run out and buy the book like this one does? How could you resists the Regency maiden’s visage scraped down to the bone at jawline? This is intrigue that goes way beyond the lucite platform heels and Sharpie eyebrows of celebrity sites; this is the kind of narrative that cannot be created by a single author. 

In other words, it takes a mashup to create the silliest literary juxtaposition ever — and I can’t wait to read it! The author credits? “JANE AUSTEN is the author of Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and other masterpieces of English literature. SETH GRAHAME-SMITH is the author of How to Survive a Horror Movie and The Big Book of Porn. He lives in Los Angeles.” (With Seth’s credits, he might want to take a look at my husband’s latest brainstorm…)

Tell me, would you read a novel that is billed as “The Classic Regency Romance, Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem?” All I can think of is what will come next: War and Peace and Fava Beans with Chianti? The Canterbury Tales Serial-Killer Pilgrims? Wuthering Heights of Psychotic Madness?

Oh, wait; that last one is a tautology. 

Although I’m recommending this as the most romantic book possible for both sexes, it is sadly not available for purchase until May 13, from Quirk Books. Three months to wait! 

But not for everyone: I’m going to wheedle a copy for myself from Quirk today, and I’ll award that copy (lightly pre-owned!) to the commenter who leaves me the most creative literary mashup in these comments. Heck, if I get a lot of creative entries, I’ll find a way to get more copies of this soon-to-be-masterpiece. Because I love you all on this Valentine’s Day weekend.

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Susan Coll combines the personal and the professional in writing Acceptance, her latest novel that is now out in paperback from Picador. In this interview, Coll discusses how she gathered material from her own experience as mother of children competing for admission to elite colleges and universities.

She also talks about how she came up with the idea of “Yates University,” the fictional institution that acts as her plot’s fulcrum — and how she learned about college admissions offices and officers through touring over 30 schools (whew!). She says at one point she actually knew a kid who could rattle off the famed U.S. News rankings list from memory…it’s all very daunting for those of us who haven’t gone through it, yet. “It just all becomes such a blur,” says Coll of the college admissions process.

Liar! Susan Coll is a liar…because she’s captured that “blur” perfectly in Acceptance.

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If you’re looking for a way to jump-start your summer reading, look no further. Not only do I suggest Susan Coll’s Acceptance as the perfect comic novel for your Memorial Day hammock time; we’ve got ten giveaway copies.

Acceptance is a sweetly serious satire about the college admissions process, set in the metro DC area. The three high-school senior protagonists, Maya, Taylor, and “AP” Harry, are all involved with fictional Yates University and its “interim head” of admissions, Olivia — to the inevitable slapstick scene at the end, which is nevertheless funny and satisfying. Even if you’ve never had a child who has gone through the increasingly complicated and convoluted college-admissions process (Coll has three college-age kids herself), you’ll find Acceptance rings true.

If you’d like to snag one of those copies, please leave a comment telling me about your favorite summer reading spot. Mine? I think I already mentioned hammocks…

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