On Stephanie Plum

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Perfectly Plum

Edited by Leah Wilson

Speculating about the cultural metaphors in Janet Evanovich’s wildly popular mystery series (which includes 11 books, from One for the Money to Eleven on Top), this anthology takes a look at lingerie-buyer-turned-bounty-hunter Stephanie Plum and catalogs her bad luck with cars (she’s blown up quite a few), her good luck with men, her unorthodox approach to weapon storage, and the rich tapestry of her milieu: Trenton, New Jersey, also known as The Burg. The contributors praise the way the series smartly spoofs that familiar chick-lit epiphany—I have a bad job and what I really want is a good man!—in Bounty Hunting as a Metaphor for Dating, Why Stephanie Should Quit Her Job … but Never Will, and Nothing Better than a Bad Boy Gone Good. Several essays veer from the chick-lit perspective and focus instead on the comic theme of luck and chance that ties Stephanie to the barroom gamblers and gangster meanies of her home town in Luck of the Italian?: Skill versus Chance.

Essays

• Destiny: Disaster!Bev Katz Rosenbaum
• Life on the Hamster WheelTanya Michaels
• The "N" in New Jersey Stands for NoirAmy Garvey
• Exploding the Myth of the Jersey GirlDevon Ellington
• Learning to FlySylvia Day
• I Love StephieCarole Nelson Douglas
• Laughing Her Way Out of TroubleKyra Davis
• The Bad Boy Next DoorShanna Swendson
• A Little Less ConversationDonna Kauffman
• Eeny, Meeny, Miney, MoNancy Tesler
• The Fast and the Furry-ousRhonda Eudaly
• The Gun in the Cookie JarBrenda Scott Royce
• From Disaster to DivaNatasha Fondren
• Stephanie Plum's TrentonPam McCutcheon
• Could Stephanie Plum Really Get Car Insurance?JA Konrath
• The Stephanie Plum DietCharlene Brusso
• Pineapple Upside-Down CakeCandace Havens
• Why Can't You Be More Like Your Sister?Keris Stainton
• Ranger as...Hairy Godmother?Karen Kendall