Critic finds Austen blowout mostly pleasurable

Writing for the New Yorker, Nancy Franklin reviews the "four-month Austenpalooza" now underway on PBS's rebranded Masterpiece. "[T]he Austen logjam has many pleasing aspects—as well as aspects that will vex Austen maniacs, but, as far as I can tell from the various Web sites devoted to the author, being vexed is part of the joy of being an Austen maniac," she writes. Screenwriter Andrew Davies, who penned several of the Masterpiece installments, appeared recently on NPR.