Insulting one's core audience: as illustrated by Joanna Trollope

I was never inclined to read Joanna Trollope's modern-day rewrite of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, seeing as A) it's my least-favorite Austen novel, and B) Trollope doesn't exactly rock my boat, either. (Plus, most the reviews have been lukewarm at best.) But apparently, as a North American Jane Austen fan, I'm too busy stuffing my face and fussing over my Regency gown to be part of Trollope's target audience, as she explains in this quote about why her book isn't written for American Austen fans:

“There’s a Jane Austen Society in America which takes it even more seriously than the Jane Austen Society in this country,” Trollope told the audience at a British literary festival this month. “I’ve been to one of their conventions, which was held in Winchester, and most of the delegates from America — none of whom was exactly anorexic — were all in Jane Austen clothes.”

Maybe this quote is taken out of context, but my first reaction was a drawn-out "Woooow." I don't actually own any "Austen clothes", and I'm reasonably fit, but damn if this quote doesn't make me want to go out and spend whatever the cover price of Ms. Trollope's book is on scones and a bonnet.

Note: Oh, and there was this. I haven't forgotten that, either.