David Lassman

David Lassman on the Greek island of Delos circa early 90s.

David Lassman (born 1963) is a British author, arts journalist and scriptwriter responsible for the 'Rejecting Jane' article, which became the 'literary story of 2007'.^[1][2]

Biography

Born in Bath, England, Lassman was educated at Beechen Cliff School, Bath (1974–1980).

He began his writing career as a columnist and arts reviewer for local and regional newspapers including the Bath Chronicle, Bournemouth Daily Echo and Big Issue South West. After graduating from Bournemouth University's prestigious Media School, with a BA (Hons) degree in Scriptwriting for Film and Television, he began writing for the screen and making regular appearances on radio and television. One of the first fruits of this new direction was on Radio Four’s 'First Person Plural' alongside Simon Nye and Birds of a Feather writer Sue Teddern.^[3][4]

Although a frequent visitor to Greece, in January 2003 he moved permanently to the island of Symi where he began writing the novel Freedom’s Temple, which is a modern take on the story of the Theseus and the Minotaur myth.^[5] While on the island he also wrote several shorter pieces of fiction which were published in English language newspapers and Greek periodicals, including his best known short story 'The Painting' – a semi-mystical love story set on Symi.^[6]

Rejecting Jane

The initial negative response to Freedom's Temple, received after his return to the UK in July 2006, contributed to his writing the article 'Rejecting Jane’, a critique of the publishing industry through their inadvertent rejection of Jane Austen.^[5][7] Using the pseudonym ‘Alison Laydee’, - a play on Austen’s original non de plume A Lady ^[7] - Lassman sent out the opening chapters of Pride and Prejudice, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion to several major publishers and literary agents, with different titles but only minor changes to the text, such as character names and locations. The resultant article chronicles the fact that all but one of the publishers and agents failed to recognise her works, including Penguin Books and JK Rowling’s publisher Bloomsbury, with the vast majority rejecting out of hand this apparent attempt by one of the world’s greatest known authors to gain a publishing deal. This despite the fact that one the most famous opening lines in English literature, that of Pride and Prejudice’s ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife’ was left intact.^[7]

When the ‘Rejecting Jane’ article was published in Issue 28 of the Jane Austen's Regency World magazine ^[8] its contents made global headlines ^{[7][9][10][11][12]} and Lassman appeared on radio and television programmes worldwide, including American news programmes and TV talk shows such as Good Morning America.^[13]

Crazy About Jane

The ‘Rejecting Jane’ article and its author are subjects of the 2008 documentary ‘Crazy About Jane’, which received its world premiere at the 8th International Jane Austen Festival in Bath.^[14][15] Lassman unwittingly received further media attention after quotes he made during the promotion of the documentary sparked controversy within the Jane Austen tourist industry.^[16][17][18]

Acting career

Lassman has made sporadic acting appearances and has shared scenes with the likes of Timothy Spall, Jeremy Northam and Clive Swift in the BBC's 1988 production of Journey's End and Ronnie Wood, Ian Dury and Bob Dylan in Hearts of Fire. He is also set to appear in the movie adaptation of his novel Freedom’s Temple.

Present day

He is currently developing a television drama series set in Regency England along with award-winning editor and screenwriter Terence James, with whom he runs the LassmanJames Script Consultancy.

At present Lassman lives in Bath where he co-runs the Bath Writers' Workshop ^[19] with Kevan Manwaring and is a director and co-founder of the Bath Screen Academy.

References

1. ^ 'Crazy for Jane film premiere at Austen festival in Bath' [1]. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
2. ^ ‘How literary hoax turned into a global story for Austen fans’. Western Daily Press. 12 September 2008.
3. ^ Miles, Jeremy. 'Learning the art of sitcom laughs.’ Bournemouth Daily Echo. 14 November 1997, p17.
4. ^ 'First Person Plural' Radio Four. Broadcast 16 November 1997.
5. ^ ^{a b} Morris, Stephen.‘The author and the Austen plot that exposed publishers’ pride and prejudice.’ [2] The Guardian, 19 July 2007. p3. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
6. ^ The Symi Visitor. December 2003.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} De Bruxelles, Simon. ‘How A Laydee showed that First Impressions really are misleading.’ [3] The Times. 19 July 2007. p21. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
8. ^ Jane Austen’s Regency World. Issue No. 28. July/August 2007. Pgs 6-10
9. ^ Morris, Stephen.‘The author and the Austen plot that exposed publishers’ pride and prejudice.’ [4] The Guardian. 19 July 2007. p3. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
10. ^ Jane Austen in Modern Day. [5] ABC news. July 20, 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
11. ^ 'Publishers fail to spot plagarized Jane Austen' [6] Reuters. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2009
12. ^ 'No Censure for Stolen Words' [7] New York Times. 20 July 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
13. ^ 'Crazy for Jane film premiere at Austen festival in Bath' [8] Retrieved 3 April 2009.
14. ^ Ibid.[9] Retrieved 3 April 2009.
15. ^ ‘How literary hoax turned into a global story for Austen fans’. Western Daily Press. 12 September 2008
16. ^ Singh, Anita.‘Fight to claim Jane Austen true home’. [10] The Daily Telegraph. 19 September 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
17. ^ 'Battle between towns over Jane Austens true home'. [11]Thaindian News. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2009.
18. ^ Denby, Marcus. 'Village challenges the might of Bath to claim its Jane’. Western Daily Press. 20 September 2008. p6.
19. ^ Bath Writers' Workshop [12] Retrieved 06 August 2009

Selected Journalism

• ‘Spotlight on Eddie Cochran’. Rockin 50s magazine. Issue 12. June 1988. pages 10–16.
• ‘Sugar or spice’ (HTV’s Final Cut competition) Rock Scene, Bath Advertiser. Jan 24, 1990.
• ‘A tough tussle’ (Moles’ Battle of the bands). Rock Scene, Bath Advertiser. May 11, 1990
• ‘Out of the tiles’ (Moles club, Bath) Bath Chronicle. June 8, 1994
• ‘More thrilling than a no-score draw’ (Ashton Court Festival, Bristol). Bath Chronicle. July 22, 1994
• ‘Dressing to funk’ (Karanga, Bath). Bath Chronicle. August 10, 1994
• ‘Is the island sinking?’ (The Island Club, Bath). Bath Chronicle. August 31, 1994
• ‘King of Glastonbury’ (Michael Eavis in-depth interview) Big Issue South West. 1994
• ‘Nowt Taken Out’ (Brian Glover in-depth interview) Big Issue South West. 1994
• ‘Satisfying and bold’ (Images of Dance review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. July 3, 1997.
• ‘Weller still vital after two decades’ (Paul Weller review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Dec 1, 1997.
• ‘One song over and over? But what a song!’ (Status Quo review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Dec 4, 1997.
• ‘Dance v Dylan’ (Rambert Dance Company review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Oct 4, 1997.
• ‘Return of the now famous’ (Ocean Colour Scene review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Feb 3, 1998.
• ‘Passion and death, with a translation’ (Carmen: The Moldovan National Opera) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Feb 14, 1998.
• ‘Responding with rapture’ (Norma: Moldovan National Opera) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Feb 17, 1998.
• ‘Standing ovation for top comedy star Lee’ (Lee Evans review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Apr 7, 1998.
• ‘That’s one way to please fans’ (The Levellers review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Dec 16, 1998.
• ‘Comedy of a surreal kind’ (Harry Hill review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Dec 18, 1999.
• 'Fans loyal to Barlow at musical crossroads’ (Gary Barlow review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Dec 23, 1999.
• ‘William Barnes’. The Talbot. Magazine of Bournemouth University Alumni. Summer 2000. pgs 20-21.
• ‘Fatalism is never far away’ (Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. Apr 4, 2001.
• ‘Bard’s tale a top blend’ (Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. May 31, 2001.
• ‘At the heart of the performance’ (Elkie Brooks review) Bournemouth Daily Echo. July 25, 2001.
• ‘Rejecting Jane’. Jane Austen’s Regency World. Issue No. 28. July/August 2007. pgs 6-10.

Selected fiction

• Short stories
• ‘A Glorious Day’ (2003)
• ‘The Painting’ (2003)
• ‘The Cursed Screenplay’ (2008)
• Novels
• ‘Freedom’s Temple’ (2007)

External links

• Crazy About Jane at Amazon.com
• David Lassman's official website
• Bath Writers' Workshop website

Persondata
Name	Lassman, David
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Date of birth	1963
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