Talk:Edna Ferber

Untitled
The plaque pictured in the article says she was born 1887. Article says 1885. Which is right?

Photo
Don't we have a better photo of her? That one looks way to pixilated when blown up. There, I've added a larger version of the same photo.Notahippie76 22:28, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Algonquin Round Table proposal at WikiProject Council/Proposals, please vote!

 * Description : The focus of the project would be articles relating to the Algonquin Round Table, including its members and their literary works.


 * Interested Wikipedians (please add your name)
 * 1) Otto4711 17:42, 7 September 2007 (UTC)
 * 2) Chris 06:09, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Wow, a project of depth, thought and lasting impact! Most cool, I'm in! Chris 06:09, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Comments

Fair use rationale for Image:Ferber1.jpg
Image:Ferber1.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot 03:50, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

Referenced info Sexuality
Please do not revert referenced info. Thank you. Info is taken from distinguished literary critic John Sutherland in book published by Oxford University Press. If you look on page 53 of that book you will find info in support of deleted statement: "According to some sources, Ferber was a lesbian." See Professor John Unsworth, quoted in John Sutherland (2007) Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction. OUP: 53. Prof Unsworth says that she was the "first nearly openly lesbian bestselling author". Colin4C (talk) 18:10, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

Of course it is lies. Where do people come up with the 2+2=5 notion that just because one never marries, one must be gay or lesbian? It is ludicrous. 17 November 2017


 * I have never heard of Sutherland or Unsworth. In the three biographies on Ferber and her two autobiographies there is no mention of any relationships with women. I believe this statement should be struck from the article. -- K72ndst (talk) 23:18, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Sutherland is one of the foremost literary critics of today. See the wikipedia article John Sutherland (author). If you look on page 53 of the book I mention you will see that it says that Ferber was the "first nearly openly lesbian bestselling author". Please do not delete this referenced info. I have given you page references and quotes, you please do the same. What I have stated is one of only three referenced statements in this entire article! All the rest is original research unsupported by references. If you want to go on a blind deleting spree delete the unreferenced material not the referenced stuff! Colin4C (talk) 23:50, 2 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I had a look at the Sutherland book, and I also dug up a collection of other references, and I have to agree with K72ndst, the claim that she's a lesbian is dubious, and I think it's problematic to open the section on her personal life with the statement "According to some sources, Ferber was a lesbian", especially when you're not giving "some" sources, you're giving one source. So as a compromise, I moved the whole discussion into a footnote, and added three other references.  One is an encyclopedia, which, if you check, offers at best circumstantial evidence; the second is a treatise by Porter on Katherine Hepburn which contains a passing reference without support, and which gets trashed on Amazon.  The third is Ferber's great niece's biography, which never mentions lesbianism but which, for all we know, is a whitewash in the other direction.  This way, the info is there for people who want to dig deeper, without making what feels like too authoritative a statement in the main body of the article.  I hope this will satisfy everyone.  Jeffrw (talk) 11:15, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

It's because the so-called biographer thinks anybody who never marries must be gay or lesbian. It is total nonsense. 17 November 2017. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.100.45.240 (talk) 01:17, 18 November 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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Statements based on S. Brody's Book "Jewish Heroes and Heroines of America"
I have edited several statements that cite a two page entry in a book for children by Seymour Brody. (BTW I have tidied up the citation; previously it just pointed to a web page.) The statements seem to be a misreading of Brody.

1) "Ferber left her estate to her remaining female relatives, but gave the American government permission to spread her literary work to encourage and inspire future female authors."

Brody actually writes "While she left her estate to her sister and nieces, Edna Ferber gave the United States her writings which encouraged women to become aggressive and assertive so that they enjoy success in their lives." I do not think this means Ferber literally gave some kind of permission to the United States government, rather that her writing is a gift left to all of us to benefit from. I have amended the sentence accordingly. If a different interpretation is warranted it would be good to have a separate reference.

2) "The quality of her work was so high that many reviewers believed a man to have written her narratives under a pseudonym of a woman."

Again I find this to be a misreading of Brody, but in any case, rather than rely on Brody, I found the quote in Ferber's autobiography on which he based his statement, and added it to this page, in the earlier section on her career, where I think it fits better (but it could certainly go elsewhere). My reading of Ferber's quote is not that reviewers were asserting her work was too good to be written by a women, but rather that it had the tone, style, and subject matter of a male writer. This pleased Ferber, who thought style should be independent of sex. YMMV with my interpretation, so I simply replaced the statement with the original quote to let the readers decide. Jeffrw (talk) 07:18, 16 October 2022 (UTC)

Filmography
I think a filmography section should be added? How many films were made of her stories and plays? FloridaArmy (talk) 00:31, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

In the news
Jstor published this article today about Edna Ferber Revistited. FloridaArmy (talk) 00:32, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

Personality Plus
Looking at this article and also the work's own wikilinked article, I see discrepancies as to whether it's a novel, a collection of short stories, or possibly a novella. I glanced at the Gutenberg file, but it wasn't immediately apparent to me which it is. I do see that this article claims EF had thirteen novels, but only twelve titles appear under the "novels" heading. If any Ferber expert seeing this knows the scoop, it would be great to get this straightened out. Thanks! Jcejhay (talk) 18:05, 18 February 2024 (UTC)