Publishers Porning Up Public Domain Works

Inevitable, wasn't it? First you put Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy up against zombies. Then you start to think wouldn't it sell more books if they just boned a lot?

Clandestine Classics is making all the implied sex in such classics as Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice and, yes, Sherlock Holmes explicit.

The publisher touts: “The old-fashioned pleasantries and timidity have all been stripped away, quite literally. You didn’t really think that these much-loved characters only held hands and pecked cheeks, did you? Come with us as we embark on a breathtaking experience — behind the closed bedroom doors of our favorite, most-beloved British characters. Learn what Sherlock really thought of Watson, what Mr. Darcy really wanted to do to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and unveil the sexy escapades of Mr. Rochester and Jane Eyre. We’ll show you the scenes that you always wanted to see but were never allowed.”

The company is releasing reworked versions of five classic novels as ebooks on July 30: Pride & Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Sherlock Holmes: A Study in Scarlet, Northanger Abbey and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (who knew that needed to be sexed up?).

Honestly, that's what Kindle is good for. You can read all the trash you want, pretty much wherever you want, and nobody will ever know. And, yes, I'm guilty too.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 11:35 AM

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