Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

A masterpiece. -- Literary Review - A novel to read and to remember. --New York Times

Widely regarded as the masterwork 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 powerful and stirring portrait of one of the most memorable women in American literature, and still resonates today with its unflinching views of poverty, sexism, and the drive for success.

Set in Chicago at the turn of the twentieth century, So Big tells the story of Selina Peake, orphaned at nineteen after her father is shot and killed in a gambling house. Alone and resolved to make something of her life, Selina gets a job as a schoolteacher in a farming community outside Chicago and falls in love with a kind but struggling farmer. She soon leaves the schoolhouse for long grueling days in the fields and gives birth to a son, Dirk, nicknamed So Big. When she finds herself unexpectedly widowed, she takes the reins of the farm, defying convention and all those around her, determined to give Dirk every opportunity to follow his dreams.

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).

A powerful story...truly as big as its subject. -- Los Angeles Times

The basis for the classic film starring James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson, Giant is Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's sweeping generational tale of power, love, cattle barons, and oil tycoons, set in Texas during the first half of the twentieth century.

When larger-than-life cattle rancher Jordan Bick Benedict arrives at the family home of sharp-witted but genteel Virginia socialite Leslie Lynnton to purchase a racehorse, the two are instantly drawn to each other. But for Leslie, falling in love with a Texan was a lot simpler than falling in love with Texas. Upon their arrival at Bick's ranch, Leslie is confronted not only with the oppressive heat and vastness of Texas but also by the disturbing inequity between runaway riches and the poverty and racism suffered by the Mexican workers on the ranch. Leslie and Bick's loving union endures against all odds, but a reckoning is coming and a price will have to be paid.

A sensational and enthralling saga, Ferber masterfully captures the essence of Texas with all its wealth and excess, cruelty and prejudice, pride and violence.

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.

Show Boat is a 1926 novel by American author and dramatist Edna Ferber. It chronicles the lives of three generations of performers on the Cotton Blossom, a floating theater on a steamboat that travels between small towns along the banks of the Mississippi River, from the 1880s to the 1920s. The story moves from the Reconstruction Era riverboat to Gilded Age Chicago to Roaring Twenties New York and finally returns to the Mississippi River.

Show Boat was adapted as a Broadway musical in 1927 by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II. Three films followed: a 1929 version that depended partly on the musical, and two full adaptations of the musical in 1936 and 1951.

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.

2020 Reprint of the 1924 Edition. 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. A rollicking panarama of Chicago's high and low life, this stunning novel follows 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.

Reviews:

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)

A] standout. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Recommended reading for our times. (Washington Post)

Her books were . . . vivid and had a sound sociological basis. She was among the best-read novelists in the nation, and critics of the 1920s and 1930s did not hesitate to call her the greatest American woman novelist of her day. (New York Times)

For sheer readability few writers can equal Edna Ferber. She writes so smoothly and brightly, with so much gusto, with so wideawake a style and so clever a selection of detail that she routs all that is common-place and casts out all that is dull. (New York Times)

There can be no question that So Big gets close to the life of its chosen bit of American soil, or that it is persuasively human in its touch. (Springfield Republican)

The classic tale behind MGM's blockbuster movie directed by George Sidney, starring Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, and Kathryn Grayson.

Bringing to life the adventurous world of Mississippi show boats, the grittiness of turn-of-the-century Chicago, and the majesty of 1920s Broadway, Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber's Show Boat is a classic. Magnolia Hawks spends her childhood aboard the Cotton Blossom, growing up amid simmering racial tension and struggling to survive life on the Mississippi. When she falls in love with the dashing Gaylord Ravenal and moves with him to Chicago, the joy of giving birth to their beautiful daughter, Kim, is offset by Gaylord's gambling addiction and distrustful ways. Only when Kim sets off on her own to pursue success on the New York stage does Magnolia return to the Cotton Blossom, reflecting on her own life and all who once called the show boat their home.

Originally published in 1926, adapted for the stage as a musical a year later and filmed three times over three decades, Show Boat brilliantly explores a nation going pivotal change through the lens of its popular culture.

With a new foreword by Foster Hirsch.

Vintage Movie Classics spotlights classic films that have stood the test of time, now rediscovered through the publication of the novels on which they were based.

In So Big, Edna Ferber weaves an inspiring tale of resilience and ambition through the life of Selina Peake DeJong. Set against the backdrop of early 20th-century America, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel explores the pursuit of dreams, the value of hard work, and the enduring strength of the human spirit.

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.

Since our inception in 2020, Mint Editions has kept sustainability and innovation at the forefront of our mission. Each and every Mint Edition title gets a fresh, professionally typeset manuscript and a dazzling new cover, all while maintaining the integrity of the original book.

With thousands of titles in our collection, we aim to spotlight diverse public domain works to help them find modern audiences. Mint Editions celebrates a breadth of literary works, curated from both canonical and overlooked classics from writers around the globe.

The story follows the life of a young woman, Selina Peake De Jong, who decides to be a school teacher in farming country. During her stay on the Pool family farm, she encourages the young Roelf Pool to follow his interests, which include art. Upon his mother's death, Roelf runs away to France. Meanwhile, Selina marries a Dutch farmer named Pervus. They have a child together, Dirk, whom she nicknames So Big, from the common question and answer How big is baby? So-o-o-o big! (Ferber, 2). Pervus becomes ill and dies, and Selina is forced to take over working on the farm to give Dirk a future. As Dirk gets older, he works as an architect but is more interested in making money than creating buildings and becomes a stock broker, much to his mother's disappointment. His love interest, Dallas O'Mara, an acclaimed artist, echoes this sentiment by trying to convince Dirk that there is more to life than money. Much later in life, Selina is visited by Roelf Pool, who has since become a famous sculptor. Dirk grows very distressed when, after visiting his mother's farm, he realizes that Dallas and Roelf love each other and he cannot compete with the artistically minded sculptor. In the end, Dirk comes to appreciate the wisdom of his mother, who always valued aesthetics and beauty even as she scraped out a living in a stern Dutch community. Ultimately, Dirk is left alone in his sumptuous apartment, saddened by his abandonment of artistic values.