102
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
It is equally illuminating to assess the relationship between George Lucas
and Ian Doescher, or the Coen brothers and Adam Bertocci as they are
projected by the paratexts. Grahame-Smith, Doescher, and Bertocci – our
second-degree mashup authors – are at the same time described as viewers,
audiences, and readers. Bertocci’s book apparently started when he took a
book-signing photograph with Anne Hathaway after a performance of Twelfth
Night. The mashup novels are, in fact, good examples of the polyprocess,
of how the modes of literary consumption have changed in participatory
culture and distributed media. A mere paratext that is structurally suggestive of doubling – the title Two Gentlemen of Verona – links Shakespeare’s
comedy to the stylistic pastiche of Bertocci’s Two Gentlemen of Lebowski.
Ian Doescher explains the genesis of his mashup novel:
It was the morning after watching The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa,
while we were still at the Shakespeare Festival, that I had the idea for
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®. 45
[My publisher] started getting the wheels in motion with Lucasfilm to
get it licensed. So I recognize how extraordinarily lucky I am to have this
all happening so easily, and so quickly. I mean, the book will ultimately
be published just under a year from when I first had the idea, which is
kind of crazy. 46
Under these conditions of speed publishing (Doescher wrote the text in
three months), velocity is indeed a key criterion. The texts are quickly
produced and rapidly forgotten. As many reviews of mashup novels point
out, longevity is not their strong suit. Macy Halford’s scathing critique of
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as an “intelligent fart joke” 47 is echoed by
a reviewer of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski’s stage version: “Bertocci’s script
45 Ian Doescher, “A Conversation with Ian Doescher, Author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®,” by Bla i r Thor nbu r g h, Our Blog, Qu i rk Book s .com, la st
modif ied June 17, 2013, accessed Februar y 15, 2019, w w w.quirkbooks.com/post/
conversation-ian-doescher-author-william-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-star-wars%C2%AE.
46 Ian Doescher, “Q& A w ith Ian Doescher about Shakespeare on Star Wars,”
by A l i sh a G order, Por tl and Monthl y, June 27, 2013 , w w w.pd x mont h ly.com/
articles/2013/6/27/q-and-a-with-ian-doescher-june-2013.
47 Macy Halford, “Jane Austen Does the Monster Mash,” rev iew of Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Page-Turner, New Yorker, April 4, 2009, accessed February 15, 2019, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/
jane-austen-does-the-monster-mash.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
It is equally illuminating to assess the relationship between George Lucas
and Ian Doescher, or the Coen brothers and Adam Bertocci as they are
projected by the paratexts. Grahame-Smith, Doescher, and Bertocci – our
second-degree mashup authors – are at the same time described as viewers,
audiences, and readers. Bertocci’s book apparently started when he took a
book-signing photograph with Anne Hathaway after a performance of Twelfth
Night. The mashup novels are, in fact, good examples of the polyprocess,
of how the modes of literary consumption have changed in participatory
culture and distributed media. A mere paratext that is structurally suggestive of doubling – the title Two Gentlemen of Verona – links Shakespeare’s
comedy to the stylistic pastiche of Bertocci’s Two Gentlemen of Lebowski.
Ian Doescher explains the genesis of his mashup novel:
It was the morning after watching The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa,
while we were still at the Shakespeare Festival, that I had the idea for
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®. 45
[My publisher] started getting the wheels in motion with Lucasfilm to
get it licensed. So I recognize how extraordinarily lucky I am to have this
all happening so easily, and so quickly. I mean, the book will ultimately
be published just under a year from when I first had the idea, which is
kind of crazy. 46
Under these conditions of speed publishing (Doescher wrote the text in
three months), velocity is indeed a key criterion. The texts are quickly
produced and rapidly forgotten. As many reviews of mashup novels point
out, longevity is not their strong suit. Macy Halford’s scathing critique of
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies as an “intelligent fart joke” 47 is echoed by
a reviewer of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski’s stage version: “Bertocci’s script
45 Ian Doescher, “A Conversation with Ian Doescher, Author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®,” by Bla i r Thor nbu r g h, Our Blog, Qu i rk Book s .com, la st
modif ied June 17, 2013, accessed Februar y 15, 2019, w w w.quirkbooks.com/post/
conversation-ian-doescher-author-william-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-star-wars%C2%AE.
46 Ian Doescher, “Q& A w ith Ian Doescher about Shakespeare on Star Wars,”
by A l i sh a G order, Por tl and Monthl y, June 27, 2013 , w w w.pd x mont h ly.com/
articles/2013/6/27/q-and-a-with-ian-doescher-june-2013.
47 Macy Halford, “Jane Austen Does the Monster Mash,” rev iew of Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies, by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith, Page-Turner, New Yorker, April 4, 2009, accessed February 15, 2019, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/
jane-austen-does-the-monster-mash.