Jane Austen and the Body: 'The Picture of Health' Book

While this is an important work on the work of Jane Austen, it could probably be half the length with decent editing. The language is overwritten and far to in love with big words, Foucault, and modern literary criticism to be a good read. Still, Wiltshire has pegged a great many aspects of Austen's work as centered in the physical parts of existence--not setting, but health and the body. Particularly with respect to Mansfield Park and Emma, the two best chapters, I felt I knew a lot more about what Austen was trying to say and how she said it. No serious Jane Austen reader should forgo the slog through the book, in other words.