WRITER

Edna Ferber

1885 - 1968

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Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big (1924), Show Boat (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), Cimarron (1930; adapted into the 1931 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), Giant (1952; made into the 1956 film of the same name) and Ice Palace (1958), which also received a film adaptation in 1960. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Edna Ferber has received more than 778,105 page views. Her biography is available in 36 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 31 in 2019). Edna Ferber is the 4,280th most popular writer (down from 3,921st in 2019), the 5,683rd most popular biography from United States (down from 5,284th in 2019) and the 460th most popular American Writer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 780k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 49.54

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 36

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.58

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.83

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Show boat
Fiction, Showboats, Interracial marriage
1926
Cheerful--by Request
Accessible book
1918
Buttered Side Down
Social life and customs, Fiction, Classic Literature
Born in Kalamazoo, MI, Ferber (1885-1968) moved with her family to Chicago and Iowa before settling in Appleton, WI at age 12. After graduating from high school, she was a reporter on the *Appleton Daily Crescent* and later the *Milwaukee Journal* before publishing her first novel. ***Fanny Herself***, a story of a young girl coming of age in Appleton at the turn of the 20th century, is generally considered to have been based on Ferber’s own experiences. Regarded by many as the “greatest American woman novelist of her day,” Ferber would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1925 for **So Big**. She was also the author of ***Showboat*** and ***Cimmaron***, which along with other of her later works were successfully adapted for stage and screen. Three of her books were developed into musicals.
1912
Cimarron
Fiction, Newspaper publishing, Married people
1929
So Big
Family relationships, Fathers and daughters, Fiction
So Big - winner of the Pulitzer Prize - the unforgettable story of Selina Peake Dejong, her marriage, widowhood, eventual success as a truck 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 contemporary issues of poverty, Americanization, family tensions, sexism, and success.
1920
One basket
Social life and customs, Fiction
1947

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Edna Ferber ranks 4,280 out of 7,302. Before her are Julius Zeyer, Steen Steensen Blicher, Marcel Arland, Richard Hakluyt, Herbert W. Franke, and Malika Oufkir. After her are Johann Christian Günther, Txillardegi, William Boyd, Jakob Hurt, Benoîte Groult, and Leopold Staff.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1885, Edna Ferber ranks 172. Before her are Charles Bacon, Anna Louise Strong, Emil Väre, Frederic Lewy, Kazimierz Sosnkowski, and Anna Hübler. After her are Alexandre Volkoff, Pierre Dupong, Duncan Grant, Juhan Kukk, Alicia Moreau de Justo, and Saneatsu Mushanokōji. Among people deceased in 1968, Edna Ferber ranks 153. Before her are Suraphol Sombatcharoen, Charles Bacon, Jón Leifs, Eivar Widlund, Joseph Pholien, and Dorothy Garrod. After her are Eben Dönges, Ruth St. Denis, Harry Stenqvist, Jess Willard, Mervyn Peake, and Norman Brookes.

Others Born in 1885

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Others Deceased in 1968

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Edna Ferber ranks 5,683 out of 20,380. Before her are Emerson Spencer (1906), Allen Woodring (1898), Bobby Morrow (1935), Hal Moore (1922), Ed O'Ross (1949), and Stanley G. Payne (1934). After her are Frankie Laine (1913), Adele Goldberg (1945), Eliza McCardle Johnson (1810), John C. Lilly (1915), Tommy Rettig (1941), and Tony Joe White (1943).

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Among WRITERS In United States

Among writers born in United States, Edna Ferber ranks 460. Before her are Charlaine Harris (1951), Erica Jong (1942), Josephine Diebitsch Peary (1863), Bill Bryson (1951), James Blish (1921), and Rube Goldberg (1883). After her are Diane Disney Miller (1933), Ivanka Trump (1981), Philip Arthur Fisher (1907), Mike Resnick (1942), Helen Prejean (1939), and Connie Willis (1945).

American born Writers

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