Thoughts on the current popularity of Austen

I've been thinking about the recent renewed interest in Jane Austen, and I can't help but look towards today's obsession with celebrity gossip for some sort of explanation. Never before have there been so many magazines, TV shows, and websites devoted to prying into and commenting on celebrities' lives--US Weekly, In Touch, OK Magazine, Perez Hilton.com, DListed.com, Access Hollywood, Insider, etc, etc, etc. The general public has become fascinated with the intimate details of the lives of others; and not only do they want to know about them, they want to talk about them. I think Jane Austen appeals to this current vein of interest, especially in female audiences. And, just as women are fascinated by the glamour of celebrity, I believe that the world of Jane Austen, with its foreignness of time and place, offers a similar window into what is thought of as a better, more glamorous life.