Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 'mash-up' becomes unexpected bestseller.
by: Alison Flood
The public's unanticipated desire for the unusual conflation of Regency romance and the undead this morning sent Seth Grahame-Smith's zombie mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies soaring to the top of Amazon's UK "movers and shakers" chart, which monitors the books which are experiencing sudden demand from consumers.
Already sitting at number three in the New York Times bestseller lists, the novel – which sees Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters battling a zombie menace that has descended upon the quiet English village of Meryton – looks likely to make a similar killing in the British market. A UK sales representative for its American publisher Quirk Books said today that it was struggling to keep up with demand and is already going into a second printing, despite the book not being published until 13 April. This morning it moved into top position in the Amazon movers and shakers chart, having previously languished below 300, and climbed to 27th position in the online bookseller's overall bestseller listings.
"The idea of taking two completely separate, incongruous elements – Regency romance and zombies – you think it couldn't possibly work, but it's so intriguing and has really captured people's imaginations," said Bethan Jones, UK spokesperson for the book. "It's definitely exceeded our expectations – I don't think the publisher quite realised how popular it would be ... It's on sale next week and we've sold over 4,000 copies already, before it's even in the shops."
The novel features Jane Austen's text interspersed with "all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem" from Grahame-Smith. So, for example, when Elizabeth is slighted by Mr Darcy at the ball – "she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me" – the "warrior code" demands she "must avenge her honour ... She meant to follow this proud Mr Darcy outside and open his throat." She's thwarted, however, when a crowd of "unmentionables" pour into the ballroom, and she and her sisters are forced to draw their daggers. "Mr Darcy watched Elizabeth and her sisters work their way outward, beheading zombie after zombie. He knew of only one other woman in all of Great Britain who wielded a dagger with such skill, such grace and deadly accuracy."
"Online interest has been huge and from all sectors," said Jones. "Seth Grahame-Smith is also a screenwriter and the film rights are being hotly negotiated at the moment too." The film adaptation will face stiff competition from Elton John's Rocket Pictures, which is currently developing another monstrous take on the novel in Pride and Predator.
Jones added that Quirk Books is planning to capitalise on the popularity of the genre with a new "monster mash-up" in the autumn, the title of which is yet to be announced. "They always hoped to continue the series – they were waiting to see how it was received," she said.
Grahame-Smith said he expected other publishers would also be looking for similarly weird concoctions. "It's inevitable that other companies are going to see that this book has been received with so much enthusiasm. I'm sure that as we speak someone is poring through Wuthering Heights looking for opportunities to add whatever mayhem they can to it," he told the BBC yesterday. But he wasn't sure he was the man to continue what he called "a mini-trend of literary mash-ups". "I don't know that I want to follow this book up with Sense and Sensibility and vampires, because I could easily box myself in as being the mash-up guy," he said.
From: The Guardian
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