Pride and Prejudice: Worst. Cover. Ever.

When I go to Powells to purchase a classic, I'm always looking for the crappy paperback, of the $1.00 variety. Sadly, it seems that I need to employ a time machine to find that kind of book, as Powell's current prices bottom out at about $4.00. Or $3.95, which I paid for the copy of Pride and Prejudice (pictured below) to take on the bike tour. I might have paid a little more just because the cover to this book is so incredibly lame I still giggle with delight looking at it.

I initially judged this edition to be published in the early-to-mid-80s due to the Regency Romance type cover and was surprised to find the edition to be published in 1994. Note that it assures me right on the cover that this edition is "complete and unabridged." Um, yes, that is what I'm looking for.

It's a tossup which is my favorite part. The tagline "Mom's fishing for husbands--But the girls are hunting for love" is such a groaner and also not actually reflective of the story, as Matt exasperatedly pointed out before we were even halfway through our reading of the book.

Or perhaps I love most that Elizabeth Bennet, someone who in the novel does not yet have one and twenty years, is depicted as someone closer to my own current age cohort which is mid-to-late 30s. Quick, grab her Darcy, before middle age begins! Also, would Darcy have ever kissed her hand like that? I think not.

This edition, aside from meeting the high standard of delivering the complete and unabridged book, did contain an excellent introduction titled "The Life and Times of Jane Austin" which I found quite interesting and informative. So just one more reminder to never judge a book by its cover.