Every Book Should be Annotated

No, for real. I just finished reading The Annotated Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen, edited by David M Shapard) and it was awesome.

There is text on one page, and notes on the facing page. The notes are: "Explanations of historical context, Citations from Austen’s life, letters, and other writings, Definitions and clarifications, Literary comments and analyses, Maps and illustrations of places and objects mentioned in the novel, An introduction, a bibliography, and a detailed chronology of events."

Basically it was awesome. If I hadn't read the book before it might have been a bit distracting, but as I am familiar with the story it was terrific. I know so much more about Jane Austen, her life, and times than I did before.