Edward

A recent  New York Times article examined the trend among some publishers to repackage classic books like Emma and Jane Eyre with provocatively modern jackets designed to grab the attention of teenager readers devoted to Twilight‘s Edward and Bella, or The Hunger Games’ Katniss and Peeta.

One cover features a stubble-faced Romeo clad in a tight white tank-top; another proclaims Wuthering Heights is “Bella & Edward’s favorite book.” At a Barnes & Noble in New York City, four new editions of novels by Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters were displayed alongside best-selling contemporary paranormal romances.

Fifty Shades of Grey , the self-published erotic novel that, through word of mouth, has risen to the top of the NYT bestseller list, started out as a piece of Twilight fan fiction posted in full on FF.net—though you won’t find that fact mentioned in the NYT’s coverage of the book today. The book is the first in a self-published trilogy by British author E. L. James . This morning, the NYT reports (in what is currently the most-emailed article on the site) that the book has “electrified women across the country, who have spread the word like