Show Boat by Edna Ferber

Show Boat by Edna Ferber

"Here, I thought, was one of the most melodramatic and gorgeous bits of Americana that had ever come my way. It was not only the theater -- it was the theater plus the glamour of the wandering drifting life, the drama of the river towns, the mystery and terror of the Mississippi itself... I spent a year hunting down every available scrap of show-boat material; reading, interviewing, taking notes and making outlines."

Inspired by an offhand comment made by Winthrop Ames during the opening night of Minick, Edna Ferber became enamored with the idea of show boats and the magic of the lives of traveling performers. Crafting a story of love and racial prejudice amid the changing times, Ferber's 1926 Pulitzer Prize winning novel Show Boat follows three generations of performers aboard the Cotton Blossom.

Set in the aftermath of the American Civil War, Show Boat sees Captain Andy Hawks, his wife Parthy Ann and his daughter, Magnolia, buying the new show boat Cotton Blossom and setting down the Mississippi River with their small cast: Julie, Steve, Ellie and "Schultzy." Despite being married to Steve, Julie is relentlessly pursued by a crewmember named Pete who ends up losing to a fight with Steve who demands he cease his unwanted advances. Threatening to expose a dark secret about their marriage, he sends the Cotton Blossom into a cycle of tragedy that will stick for generations to come.

Professionally typeset with a beautifully designed cover, this edition of Show Boat is an award-winning classic reimagined for the modern reader.

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Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer, and dramatist who lived from 1885 to 1968. So Huge (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the famed 1927 musical), Cimarron (1929; made into the Academy Award-winning 1931 film), Giant (1952; made into the 1956 Hollywood film), and Ice Palace (1958; made into the 1960 film) were among her novels. Ferber's works tended to have strong female protagonists, as well as a large and varied cast of supporting characters. Ferber illustrated her idea that humans are individuals and that the not-so-pretty people had the best character by highlighting at least one outstanding secondary character who faced persecution ethnically or for other reasons.