Bøger af Edna Ferber

There are a number of things that are pleasanter than being sick in a New York boarding-house when one's nearest dearest is a married sister up in far-away Michigan. Some one must have been very kind, for there were doctors, and a blue-and-white striped nurse, and bottles and things. There was even a vase of perky carnations-scarlet ones. I discovered that they had a trick of nodding their heads, saucily. The discovery did not appear to surprise me.

When men began to build cities vertically instead of horizontally there passed from our highways a picturesque figure, and from our language an expressive figure of speech. That oily-tongued, persuasive, soft-stepping stranger in the rusty Prince Albert and the black string tie who had been wont to haunt our back steps and front offices with his carefully wrapped bundle, retreated in bewildered defeat before the clanging blows of steel on steel that meant the erection of the first twenty-story skyscraper. "As slick," we used to say, "as a lightning-rod agent." Of what use his wares on a building whose tower was robed in clouds and which used the chain lightning for a necklace? The Fourth Avenue antique dealer had another curio to add to his collection of andirons, knockers, snuff boxes and warming pans.

Roast Beef, Medium: The Business Adventures of Emma McChesney was first published in 1913. It chronicles the adventures of perhaps the only a successful traveling saleswoman in literary history, a stellar employee of T. A. Buck¿s Featherloom Petticoats. Emma is the divorced mother of a 17-year-old son Jock, who also makes a few appearances. The title refers to the only consistently good road food, in Emma's opinion: roast beef. The illustrated edition contains 27 illustrations by James Montgomery Flagg.

Selina Peake moves from Chicago to a rural Dutch farming area just outside the city to teach in a one room school. As she attempts to fit into the community, she learns about her own strength in adapting to rural life. She marries an uneducated but sweet Dutch farmer named Pervus DeJong and has a son, Dirk, nicknamed ¿So Big.¿ She wishes her son to have the same appreciation for the arts and education she has, and although he becomes an architect, his disillusionment with the architectural apprentice system leads him to a career as a successful bond salesman. He later regrets eschewing his architecture career when he meets a beautiful and eccentric artist.Ferber was not confident in the book¿s prospects when it was first published. Nevertheless, it became very popular, won her the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1925, and was later made into three different motion pictures.

So Big - winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1924 - the unforgettable story of schoolteacher Selina Peake Dejong, her marriage, widowhood, eventual success as a farmer, and of her son, Dirk. In So Big, Ferber simultaneously created a vivid picture of turn-of-the-century Chicago and dealt with the (still) contemporary issues of poverty, Americanization, family tensions, sexism, and success, questioning what really makes a person happy in life.

From the witty Algonquin Round Table writer, Edna Feber, comes this semi-autobiographical coming-of-age novel. Fanny Herself follows the trials of a young Jewish woman as she finds her feet in early twentieth-century America.In constant self-comparison to her mother, Fanny is trying to find a balance between her artistic aspirations and her dream of being an entrepreneurial businesswoman. She is a sensitive woman who struggles to thrive when her small successes are so heavily overshadowed by her brother's music career. But Fanny is determined, surrounded by good friends, and has an incredibly strong will to achieve her dreams. First published in 1917, Fanny Herself is surprisingly modern and full of Edna Ferber's well-known warmth and wit. This early feminist novel is the perfect read for those who enjoyed the Emma McChesney trilogy. Complete with an introductory excerpt by Rogers Dickinson.

A collection of her excellent, insightful short stories.BioEdna Ferber (August 15, 1885 - April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), Cimarron (1930; adapted into the 1931 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), Giant (1952; made into the 1956 film of the same name) and Ice Palace (1958), which also received a film adaptation in 1960. Ferber's novels generally featured strong female protagonists, along with a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. She usually highlighted at least one strong secondary character who faced discrimination, ethnic or otherwise.Ferber's works often concerned small subsets of American culture, and sometimes took place in exotic locations she had visited but was not intimately familiar with, such as Texas or Alaska. She thus helped to highlight the diversity of American culture to those who did not have the opportunity to experience it. Some novels are set in places she had not visited. (wikipedia.org)

This is the story of Dawn O'Hara, who finds the humor in things. She's charming and witty and stubborn and likable. It's her tale of struggle with romance, growing friendships and relationships, sacrifices and overcoming her past and embracing the future. It is a wonderful, easy read and I recommend it to those who enjoy a good story. (Sarah)BioEdna Ferber (August 15, 1885 - April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), Cimarron (1930; adapted into the 1931 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), Giant (1952; made into the 1956 film of the same name) and Ice Palace (1958), which also received a film adaptation in 1960. Ferber's novels generally featured strong female protagonists, along with a rich and diverse collection of supporting characters. She usually highlighted at least one strong secondary character who faced discrimination, ethnic or otherwise.Ferber's works often concerned small subsets of American culture, and sometimes took place in exotic locations she had visited but was not intimately familiar with, such as Texas or Alaska. She thus helped to highlight the diversity of American culture to those who did not have the opportunity to experience it. Some novels are set in places she had not visited. (wikipedia.org)