Other editions of book So Big: A Novel

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and widely considered to be Edna Ferber’s greatest achievement, So Big is a classic novel of turn-of-the-century Chicago. Hailed as a novel “to read and remember” (New York Times), So Big is the unforgettable story of the indomitable Selina Peake DeJong and her struggles to stay afloat and maintain her dignity in the face of a challenging marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood. First published in 1924, So Big is a brilliant literary masterwork from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, and still resonates today with its unflinching views of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize"A masterpiece. . . . It has the completeness, [the] finality, that grips and exalts and convinces." — Literary Review Widely regarded as the master work of celebrated author and Algonquin Round Table mainstay Edna Ferber—who also penned other classics including Show Boat, Giant, Ice Palace, Saratoga Trunk, and Cimarron—So Big is a rollicking panorama of Chicago at the turn of the 20th Century. Following the travails of gambler's daughter Selina Peake DeJong as she struggles to maintain her dignity, her family, and her sanity in the face of monumental challenges, this is the stunning and unforgettable “novel to read and to remember” by an author who “critics of the 1920s and 1930s did not hesitate to call… the greatest American woman novelist of her day” (New York Times). So Big is a must-read for fans of contemporary novelists such Willa Cather (O Pioneers!), Pearl S. Buck (The Good Earth), and Marjorie Rawlings (The Yearling).

Author Edna Ferber described the story of So Big as being about a "material man, son of his earth-grubbing, idealistic mother". Left an orphan at 19 years old in the late 1880s, Selina Peake needs to support herself. She leaves the city life she has known to become a teacher in the farming community of High Prairie, IL. Her father had told her that life is an adventure, and one should make the most of it. Selina sees beauty everywhere, including in the fields of cabbages. She has a natural curiosity about farming and oversteps the woman's traditional role by having the audacity to ask the men questions. She soon marries Pervus DeJong, a farmer. Selina eagerly offers suggestions for operational improvements, but Pervus ignores her, preferring to use the unprofitable farming methods employed by his father. Though she suffers many hardships, Selina always remembers the importance of beauty, and she admires those who exercise their creative talents. She tries to instill these views in her son Dirk and fights with her husband over the need for their child to get a full education. Once Dirk finishes college and starts work, will he retain Selina's values? So Big was the first book to have the rare distinction of being the best-selling book of the year and win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

Edna Ferber was born on August 15th, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The family moved often due to her father's business failures, likely caused by his early blindness. After living in Chicago, Illinois, came Ottumwa, Iowa with her parents and older sister, Fannie, from ages five to twelve. In Ottumwa, Edna faced and experienced brutal anti-Semitism. Age 12 Edna and her family moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, where she graduated from high school and briefly attended Lawrence University. When recovering from anemia, Edna’s short stories were compiled and published. From there she took newspaper jobs at the Appleton Daily Crescent and the Milwaukee Journal before publishing her first novel. She also covered both the 1920 Republican National Convention and the 1920 Democratic National Convention for the United Press Association.Edna was very proud of her Jewish heritage and already in 1922 was troubled by the rise of the Nazi Party and its spreading of anti-Semitic prejudice. Her fears greatly influenced her work, which often featured themes of racial and cultural discrimination.In 1925, Edna won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for her book ‘So Big’. It was made into a silent movie that year and as a talkie in 1932. Edna initially had doubts about the novel, believing it lacked a plot and had a subtle theme that could easily be missed. Her publisher, Doubleday, dismissed her worries. It sold hundreds of thousands of copies of the novel sold to the public. In fact, it became the best-selling title of 1924.Edna was a keen member of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of wits who met for lunch every day at the New York Hotel in New York. She collaborated with Round Table member George S. Kaufman on several Broadway plays: Minick (1924), The Royal Family (1927), Dinner At Eight (1932), The Land Is Bright (1941), Stage Door (1936), and Bravo! (1948).When composer Jerome Kern proposed turning her serious 1926 book ‘Show Boat’ into a musical, Edna wasn’t keen on it being a typical lightweight entertainment of the 1920s. Kern explained that he and Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to create a different type of musical. Edna granted him the rights. It changed musical theatre.Across her career Edna had written some classic and best-selling works either in their own right or as adaptations. Many had received accolades, from the Pulitzer to Oscars. In her personal life though Edna never married and had no children. If there were any relationships, she kept them very quiet. Her outspokenness was usually based on protecting others from insult or putdowns to protect herself. After a man joked that her suit made her resemble a man, she shot back ‘So does yours.’Edna Ferber died at her home in New York City on April 16th, 1968, of stomach cancer, at the age of 82.

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

Edna Ferber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is a rollicking panorama of Chicago's high and low life at the turn of the twentieth century—now available in a limited Olive Edition.“A masterpiece. . . . It has the completeness, [the] finality that grips and exalts and convinces.”—Literary ReviewWinner of the Pulitzer Prize and widely considered to be Edna Ferber's greatest achievement, So Big is a classic novel of turn-of-the-century Chicago. It is the unforgettable story of Selina Peake DeJong, a gambler's daughter, and her struggles to stay afloat and maintain her dignity and her sanity in the face of marriage, widowhood, and single parenthood. A brilliant literary masterwork from one of the twentieth century's most accomplished and admired writers, the remarkable So Big still resonates with its unflinching view of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.

SCUFFING, FADING AND SOME DISCOLORATION ON COVERS AND SPINE. AGE RELATED TANNING INSIDE COVERS AND ON PAGES. FIRST BLANK PAGE AT BEGINNING OF BOOK IS MISSING. BINDING HAS SPLIT INSIDE FRONT COVER, BUT REMAINS BOUND BY WEBBED FABRIC UNDERLAY. NO MARKING/ WRITING NOTED WITHIN BOOK. NICE COPY! MUSTY ODOR. DARK GREEN BOARDS WITH GOLD TEXT BOX ON FRONT COVER.

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