Edna Ferber

The book, Emma McChesney and Co., has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed, has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies of their original work and hence the text is clear and readable.

Inspired by the life events of Antje Paarlberg, So Big is an award-winning drama that depicts the life of Selina Peake de Jong. Raised in a strict farming community, Selina decides to be a schoolteacher. Good-hearted and kind, she attempts to inspire her students to work for their dreams, no matter how nontraditional they seem. By encouraging artistic expression, Selina changes the lives of her students. When she marries a farmer named Pervus, the two welcome a baby boy into their family, naming their child Dirk. However, after the family suffers a tragic loss, Selina is forced to quit her job and work on a farm in order to provide her son with a stable life. As Dirk grows, Selina nurtures his artistic talent, proud when he begins to express interest in architecture. However, when Dirk comes of age, he begins to value money more and more, eventually giving up on the architect profession in favor of a stable and lucrative job as a stock broker. Heartbroken, Selina still tries to support her son, while quietly hoping that he returns to value his artistic roots. First published in 1924, Edna Ferber felt unsure about her novel So Big, which would eventually go on to win a Pulitzer Prize, and inspire adaptations for film, radio and television. Set in a rural community within a Chicago suburb, So Big features a slice-of-life narrative, with strong themes of community, expression, and family. With intricate description of the daily life of the lower-class Dutch community, contemporary readers are afforded a privileged perspective into the social dynamics of early 20th century America. This edition of So Big by Edna Ferber now features a new, eye-catching cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, this edition of So Big crafts an accessible and pleasant reading experience for modern audiences while restoring the original mastery and emotion of Edna Ferber’s literature.

First Published in 1924 and awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1925, Edna Ferber's "So Big" is the fascinating tale of Selina Peak De Jong and her resilience in the face of a difficult marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood, set in the Dutch farming community of South Holland, Illinois near Chicago. Ferber based her courageous and resourceful heroine on the story of Antje Paarlberg, who was a Dutch immigrant and an enterprising farmer and widow in her Midwestern community. In the beginning, Selina is a school teacher in a rural community and she works hard to foster a love of art and beautiful things in her students. Soon she marries a Dutch farmer named Pervus and they have a son named Dirk, whom she nicknames "So Big". Pervus falls ill and dies and Selina is left alone to try and keep the farm afloat. Selina struggles to preserve her dignity in a community that is often stern and judgmental and never loses her love of beauty and art. Ferber's novel is full of complex and nuanced characters and her themes of ambition, sexism, and poverty continue to resonant with readers. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

"It has the completeness, and finality, that grips and exalts and convinces. . . . So Big is a masterpiece."--Literary Review "A thoughtful book, clean and strong, dramatic at times, interesting always, clear-sighted, sympathetic, a novel to read and to remember."--New York Times "Recommended reading for our times."--Washington Post In this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Edna Ferber recounts the transformation of a gambler's daughter into a spirited teacher, hardworking farmer's wife, and devoted mother. Throughout her struggles to maintain her home and dignity, So Big's heroine prevails thanks to her resilience and her well-developed sense of aesthetics. Ferber faithfully captures middle-class life in the Midwest during the 1920s and '30s. Her observations of class struggles and gender inequality on the Illinois prairie are complemented by her lyrical explorations of timeless values: finding beauty in nature, remaining optimistic, and being true to yourself.

Edna Ferber, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Show Boat and Giant, achieved her first great success with a series of stories she published in American Magazine between 1911 and 1913. The stories featured Emma McChesney: smart, savvy, stylish, divorced mother, and Midwest traveling sales representative for T. A. Buck's Featherloom skirts and petticoats. With one hand on her sample case and the other fending off advances from salesmen, hotel clerks, and other predators, Emma holds on tightly to her reputation: honest, hardworking, and able to outsell the slickest salesman. Like her compact bag of traveling necessities, Emma has her life boiled down to essentials: her work and her seventeen-year-old son, Jock. Her experience has taught her that it's best to stick to roast beef, medium - avoiding both physical and moral indigestion - rather than experiment with fancy

So big is Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is a book about dreams and realities; about choosing between money and artist success. It questions what really makes a person happy, what drives us, and why; all the while confronting poverty, sexism, and societal pressures. A masterpiece of modern fiction. "With all its flaws and crudities it has the completeness, and finality, that grips and exalts and convinces. By virtue of these qualities So Big is a masterpiece." --Literary Review"A thoughtful book, clean and strong, dramatic at times, interesting always, clear-sighted, sympathetic, a novel to read and remember." -- The New York Times

So Big is Edna Ferber's Pulitzer Prize winning novel. It is a book about dreams and realities; about choosing between money and artist success. It questions what really makes a person happy, what drives us, and why; all the while confronting poverty, sexism, and societal pressures. A masterpiece of modern fiction. "With all its flaws and crudities it has the completeness, and finality, that grips and exalts and convinces. By virtue of these qualities So Big is a masterpiece." --Literary Review"A thoughtful book, clean and strong, dramatic at times, interesting always, clear-sighted, sympathetic, a novel to read and remember." -- The New York Times

This book is a result of an effort made by us towards making a contribution to the preservation and repair of original classic literature. In an attempt to preserve, improve and recreate the original content, we have worked towards: 1. Type-setting & Reformatting: The complete work has been re-designed via professional layout, formatting and type-setting tools to re-create the same edition with rich typography, graphics, high quality images, and table elements, giving our readers the feel of holding a 'fresh and newly' reprinted and/or revised edition, as opposed to other scanned & printed (Optical Character Recognition - OCR) reproductions. 2. Correction of imperfections: As the work was re-created from the scratch, therefore, it was vetted to rectify certain conventional norms with regard to typographical mistakes, hyphenations, punctuations, blurred images, missing content/pages, and/or other related subject matters, upon our consideration. Every attempt was made to rectify the imperfections related to omitted constructs in the original edition via other references. However, a few of such imperfections which could not be rectified due to intentional\unintentional omission of content in the original edition, were inherited and preserved from the original work to maintain the authenticity and construct, relevant to the work. We believe that this work holds historical, cultural and/or intellectual importance in the literary works community, therefore despite the oddities, we accounted the work for print as a part of our continuing effort towards preservation of literary work and our contribution towards the development of the society as a whole, driven by our beliefs. We are grateful to our readers for putting their faith in us and accepting our imperfections with regard to preservation of the historical content. HAPPY READING

From Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Edna Ferber, called the "the greatest American woman novelist of her day" (New York Times), comes a mesmerizing and timeless saga of love, greed and power. Saratoga Trunk unfolds the story of Clio Dulaine, an ambitious Creole beauty who more than meets her match in Clint Maroon, a handsome Texan with a head for business--and an eye for beautiful young women. Together they do battle with Southern gentry and Eastern society, but in their obsession to acquire all they've ever wanted, they fail to realize they already have all they'll ever need--each other. An unforgettable tale of ambition, class differences, and love, Saratoga Trunk was the basis for the classic film starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.

The basis for the classic film starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman, Saratoga Trunk is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's enthralling saga of love, greed, and power set in New Orleans and Saratoga during the late nineteenth century. Saratoga Trunk unfolds the story of Clio Dulaine, an ambitious Creole beauty who more than meets her match in Clint Maroon, a handsome Texan with a head for business--and an eye for beautiful young women. Together they do battle with Southern gentry and Eastern society, but in their obsession to acquire all they've ever wanted, they fail to realize they already have all they'll ever need--each other. A novel by one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, Saratoga Trunk is a lively tale of ambition and love that celebrates the triumph of outsiders against the powerful and corrupt.

Edna Ferber, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Show Boat and Giant, achieved her first great success with a series of stories she published in American Magazine between 1911 and 1913. The stories featured Emma McChesney: smart, savvy, stylish, divorced mother, and Midwest traveling sales representative for T. A. Buck's Featherloom skirts and petticoats. With one hand on her sample case and the other fending off advances from salesmen, hotel clerks, and other predators, Emma holds on tightly to her reputation: honest, hardworking, and able to outsell the slickest salesman. Like her compact bag of traveling necessities, Emma has her life boiled down to essentials: her work and her seventeen-year-old son, Jock. Her experience has taught her that it's best to stick to roast beef, medium--avoiding both physical and moral indigestion--rather than experiment with fancy sauces and exotic dishes. Yet she never shies away from a challenge, and her sharp instincts and common sense serve her well in dealing with the likes of Ed Meyer, a smooth-talking, piano-playing salesman; Blanche LeHay, prima donna of the Sam Levin Crackerjack Belles; and T. A. Buck Jr., the wet-behind-the-ears son of the founder of Featherloom. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience. Roast Beef, Medium: The Business Adventures of Emma McChesney by Edna Ferber