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Rating: 
Summary: A Treasure and Pleasure to Read
Review: Edna Ferber was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 15, 1885 in a German/Hungarian Jewish family. Ferber was a prolific and popular novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for So Big, the story of a woman raising a child on a truck farm outside of Chicago. Others of her best known books include Showboat (1926), Cimarron (1929), Giant (1952) and Ice Palace (1958). Showboat was made into a musical comedy on Broadway and three motion pictures; So Big was adapted into two films; Giant starred Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson and was James Dean's last movie. She died of cancer at age 82 in 1968. In a lengthy obituary the New York Times said, "Her books were not profound, but they were vivid and had a sound sociological basis. She was among the best-read novelists in the nation, and critics of the 1920s and '30s did not hesitate to call her the greatest American woman novelist of her day."Ferber wrote two autobiographies -- A Peculiar Treasure published in 1939 and A Kind of Magic in 1963. In A Peculiar Treasure she discusses her early years, including early experiences with anti-semitism and her experiences as a newspaper writer in Milwaukee. Published at a time when the world was embarking upon a World War, readers found her autobiography inspiring. As she wrote, "Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death -- fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous constant." I highly recommend this book. You'll get a fascinating glimpse into bygone eras [the German-American community of the turn of the century; the glittering theatre world of the twenties; etc.], and you'll be both inspired and encouraged by an American success story, success not only in the expected financial sense, but more importantly, a success of spirit.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure and Pleasure to Read
Review: Edna Ferber was born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 15, 1885 in a German/Hungarian Jewish family. Ferber was a prolific and popular novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for So Big, the story of a woman raising a child on a truck farm outside of Chicago. Others of her best known books include Showboat (1926), Cimarron (1929), Giant (1952) and Ice Palace (1958). Showboat was made into a musical comedy on Broadway and three motion pictures; So Big was adapted into two films; Giant starred Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson and was James Dean's last movie. She died of cancer at age 82 in 1968. In a lengthy obituary the New York Times said, "Her books were not profound, but they were vivid and had a sound sociological basis. She was among the best-read novelists in the nation, and critics of the 1920s and '30s did not hesitate to call her the greatest American woman novelist of her day." Ferber wrote two autobiographies -- A Peculiar Treasure published in 1939 and A Kind of Magic in 1963. In A Peculiar Treasure she discusses her early years, including early experiences with anti-semitism and her experiences as a newspaper writer in Milwaukee. Published at a time when the world was embarking upon a World War, readers found her autobiography inspiring. As she wrote, "Life can't ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer's lover until death -- fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous constant." I highly recommend this book. You'll get a fascinating glimpse into bygone eras [the German-American community of the turn of the century; the glittering theatre world of the twenties; etc.], and you'll be both inspired and encouraged by an American success story, success not only in the expected financial sense, but more importantly, a success of spirit.
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