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They are almost caricatures of what social-climbing mothers like Mrs.

The men Liz and Jane fall for - that is, Darcy and Bingley - are described more in terms of their scintillating looks, impressive wealth and Ivy League credentials than in terms of their humor, smarts or charm. At the same time, she places nearly as much emphasis on the Bennet sisters’ marital prospects (particularly with wealthy men) as their venal mother and the show “Eligible” do. Sittenfeld has aged Liz and Jane, putting them on the cusp of turning 40, and concocted money problems for their parents that put financial issues on everyone’s mind. In a labored attempt to make the matter of marriage more of an issue, Ms.

Sittenfeld’s storytelling talents in the novel’s opening chapters, “Eligible” swiftly devolves into the glibbest sort of chick lit it reads less like a homage or reimagining of Austen’s classic than a heavy-handed and deeply unfunny parody.Ĭurtis Sittenfeld Credit. But if readers were hoping that “Eligible” might be to “Pride and Prejudice” what Amy Heckerling’s captivating 1995 movie “Clueless” was to Austen’s “Emma,” they will be sorely disappointed. Sittenfeld possesses the gifts that might lend themselves to such an enterprise: an appraising eye for telling social and status details (“ Prep”) and a persuasive ability to channel her characters’ inner lives (“ American Wife” and “ Sisterland”). The novel is largely set in Cincinnati and stars Liz Bennet, her four sisters, their social-climbing mother and self-absorbed father, and the sisters’ assorted suitors.Ĭertainly, Ms. “Eligible,” by the best-selling novelist Curtis Sittenfeld, is a “modern retelling” of “Pride and Prejudice,” commissioned by the Austen Project, which has been pairing contemporary authors with various Austen works. Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel, “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” showed that it was possible to lift Austen’s story line and create a funny contemporary novel about a spirited young woman in search of love, while reminding us that “Pride and Prejudice” was one of the original screwball comedy/romcom templates. “Pride and Prejudice” alone has countless progeny - from the classic 1995 BBC adaptation, to more fanciful variations like “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and “Twilight” (Pride and Prejudice and Vampires). It is a truth universally acknowledged that many a writer in want of a good romantic comedy plot has turned to Jane Austen.