American author Edna Ferber (1887-1968) wrote popular fiction and collaborated on several successful Broadway plays.Born in Kalamazoo, Mich., Edna Ferber at an early age moved with her family to Apple...
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Edna Ferber , popular and prolific novelist, short-story writer, autobiographer, and dramatic collaborator with George S. Kaufman, is remembered chiefly as a chronicler and critic of American cultural...
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Edna Ferber was one of the most popular Jewish-American women writers in history. She was a best-selling author as well as a critically successful one and the first Jewish-American woman to win the Pu...
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Edna Ferber , best known today for her novels, was a short-story writer well before she was an acclaimed novelist. It was not until the appearance of So Big in 1924, after the publication of four nove...
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Generally known as a novelist who deftly illustrated American life and culture in her popular fiction, Edna Ferber was always drawn to the stage. As a child she wanted to act, but she later realized t...
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Critical Essay by Stevie Smith
There is something good about Miss Ferber's fighting character that comes through [her autobiography, A Kind of Magic,] and warms the reader's heart—...
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Critical Essay by Mary Rose Shaughnessy
Women—their potential, their success and failures; and America—its successes and failures, were … Edna Ferber's two great themes.
[I...
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Critical Essay by William Mcfee
Miss Ferber's talent, this reviewer is irrevocably convinced, does not lie in the way of the novel…. She writes a novel as a modern athletic girl might we...
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Critical Essay by William Kittrell
Miss Ferber's [Giant] is certain to be on the required reading list of the Texas Folklore Society, for it deals with the habits of those mythological creature...
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Critical Essay by Joe Dever
Edna Ferber is a reportorial novelist with a powerful, encompassing love for America and the people in it. Miss Ferber's skill at reportage and enormous, healthy cur...
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Critical Essay by Walter Havighurst
It was inevitable that Edna Ferber should write a novel about Alaska. The magnetic northern land has all the qualities that draw her to a scene—robustness, m...
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Critical Essay by Edward Weeks
In The Emma McChesney Stories, Edna Ferber staked out her claim as a delineator of American character; and in Show Boat she gave us one of the most appealing romances of...
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In the following slightly favorable review of Dawn O'Hara, Cooper praises Ferber's ability to convey her tragic story with "light-heartedness" and a "warm-hearted un...
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In the following mixed review of The Girls, Hackett applauds the realistic details of the plot and characters, but faults Ferber's "underlying sentimentalism and snappy technique."...
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In the following mixed review of Gigolo, the critic contends that while the plots and characters of the stories are realistic, Ferber at times undercuts this quality with excessive melodrama or lack o...
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Farrar, an American journalist, editor, and critic, founded the publishing companies Farrar and Rinehart and Farrar, Straus and Company, now known as Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In the following anecdo...
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In the following mixed review of Mother Knows Best, Kronenberger contends that all of the short stories are enjoyable, but some lack originality and realism.
For sheer readability few writers can equa...
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In the following favorable review of Roast Beef, Medium, Hawthorne praises Ferber's depiction of the modern American woman.
"Roast beef, medium." A sane sensible order, pretty cer...
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Canby was an American editor, educator, biographer, and literary critic. In the following review, he contends that while. American Beauty is well-constructed and realistic in its surface details, it l...
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In the following review, Ross favorably assesses American Beauty.
Miss Ferber's title is cryptic. This story is not, as one might expect, of hothouse America, of cities and show girls and night...
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In the following mixed review, Wallace applauds the vivid characters in American Beauty, but faults Ferber for emphasizing pageantry over plot.
In her newest novel, American Beauty, Edna Ferber has ma...
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Van Doren was an esteemed American novelist, critic, and autobiographer; her husband was poet Mark Van Doren. In the following largely negative review of American Beauty, she laments Ferber's r...
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Becker was an American journalist, critic, and author of books for children. In the following review, she favorably assesses They Brought Their Women.
Everybody has a story: that has been said since a...
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In the following review of They Brought Their Women, Walton argues that while she has the talent to write realistic and exciting short stories, "depth, subtlety, intensity are beyond Miss Ferbe...
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In the following excerpt from a book originally published in 1936, Lawrence focuses on the role of women in Ferber's writings, discussing the historical context in which Ferber's work fi...
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In the following review, Currier favorably assesses the characterizations and plotlines of "Nobody's In Town" and "Trees Die at the Top," the two novellas in Nobody&...
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In the following review of A Peculiar Treasure, Woods favorably assesses Ferber's first autobiography.
It was a lovable country town in Wisconsin, in the early years of the century: tree-shaded...
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Quennell was an American essayist, novelist, and critic. In the following review of A Peculiar Treasure, he praises Ferber as a keen observer and an honest and enthusiastic writer, rather than as a pa...
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In the following favorable review of Emma McChesney & Company, the critic praises Ferber's realistic characterization of her protagonist.
According to all the rules of precedent, one should...
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In the following review of Great Son, Rothman praises Ferber's skill as a novelist but laments the fact that she did not fully develop her story in this novel.
Miss Ferber is a swell writer, gi...
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Du Bois was an American educator, novelist, poet, playwright, and critic. In the following review of Great Son, he argues that Ferber has failed to provide her potentially interesting characters with ...
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In the following mixed review of Great Son, Feld applauds the plotline as "a lavish and prodigious feast," but contends that the characters are not well-defined.
In a two-page introducti...
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In the following review, Gray examines A Peculiar Treasure, contending that it is a forthright autobiography and reveals the particulars of Ferber's literary success.
Edna Ferber is an enormous...
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In the following essay, based on a 1945 interview, Gelder examines Ferber's views on the writing process.
Edna Ferber waited for the publication of her new novel, Great Son. Her hands and her t...
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In the following review of One Basket, MacBride praises the collection as representing Ferber "at her best."
Miss Ferber's short stories (her blurbist informs us solemnly) are req...
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In the following favorable review of Giant, Barkham argues that the novel presents a scathing view of Texas, one that Texans will probably resent.
If you haven't read Edna Ferber's name ...
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In the following favorable review of Giant, Bullock examines Ferber's themes, characterizations, and portrayal of contemporary Texas life.
Edna Ferber does best with a big story: Chicago in its...
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In the following mixed review of Fanny Herself, the critic applauds the realism of the characters and story in the first half of the novel, but faults the concluding chapters for losing the narrative&...
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Adams is an American writer and critic. In the following review of Giant, she favorably assesses its plot, themes, and characterizations.
The state of Texas is hero, heroine, villain, and supporting c...
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Gruening, who served as governor of Alaska from 1939 to 1953 and senator from 1958 to 1969, was also a critic and author of several books about Alaska. In the following favorable review, he examines t...
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Janeway, whose husband was the noted economist Eliot Janeway, is an American novelist, educator, nonfiction writer, and critic. In the following mixed review of Ice Palace, she applauds the nonfiction...
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In the following mixed review, Weeks applauds the geographical and historical scope of Ice Palace, but contends that the believability of the characters and plot are compromised by Ferber's &#x...
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Rogers was an American journalist and critic. In the following review of A Kind of Magic, he suggests that while "Miss Ferber bares no soul" in this autobiography, she provides insights ...
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In the following essay, Uffen explores the mythical aspects of Ferber's novels, focusing on her use of "larger-than-life" characters, the differences between her heroes and heroin...
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In the following favorable review of Cheerful—By Request, the critic discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the individual stories.
Edna Ferber's new book of short stories [Cheerful&#...
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In the following favorable review of Half Portions, the critic notes that Ferber's characters are similar to those of O'Henry.
There are times while reading Edna Ferber's stories ...
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In the following essay, which is a chapter from her book originally published in 1920, Williams discusses Ferber's short stories.
Few critics have accused Miss Edna Ferber of preaching a doctri...
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In the following favorable review of The Girls, Field praises Ferber's sense of realism.
Congratulations to Edna Ferber! For her new novel, The Girls, is not only the best, and very much the be...
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Edna Ferber
Edna Ferber
