Austen Translation  Many of this season's beach reads claim
Austen's blessing (and filch her plots). But dubbing yourself a
modern-day Jane is like claiming to look like a movie star: The
star just comes out looking better in the end.  By Rachel Pastan
Viking, 259 pp., $23.95  This self-styled dose of "Jane Austen
in Philadelphia" boasts a matchmaking mama with an M.D. who's
just as silly (but not half as funny) as Austen's Mrs. Bennet.
The Philadelphia Story was more progressive than this.  By Karen
Siplin Atria, 308 pp., $23  The flap copy promises, "Just as
Bridget Jones's Diary did for Pride and Prejudice, Karen Siplin
here updates (and shakes up) the premise of Jane Austen's
Persuasion, placing the characters in a modern, multicultural
landscape." Even if we allow that Bridget "did" something for
Jane, rather than the reverse, pulling Persuasion out of
Georgian society means the modern, multicultural lovers have no
excuse for not communicating like grown-ups. The most
interesting parts concern the heroin