Before Jane Austen, William Deresiewicz was a very different young man. A sullen and arrogant graduate student, he never thought Austen would have anything to offer him. Then he read Emma--and everything changed. In this unique and lyrical book, Deresiewicz weaves the misadventures of Austens characters with his own youthful follies, demonstrating the power of the great novelists teachings--and how, for Austen, growing up and making mistakes are one and the same. Honest, erudite, and deeply moving, A Jane Austen Education is the story of one mans discovery of the world outside himself.