She Is Never Sloppy

Edna Ferber

Edna Ferber's So Big is an unusually fine novel. A portrait of a boy and his mother, with a finely sketched background of Chicago, and a fundamental theme which shows the development of various attitudes toward the beauty of life--it stands out as unforgettable.

Miss Ferber is at once finely intuitive and keenly observant. She is that most unusual person, the interpretative reporter ; for she can not only see the events which are tramping about her; she knows well the souls of events. She is eager, tender, possessed of a magnificent tolerance, in spite of a firm ethical creed--and her artistic creed is similar; for, while she might permit herself to experiment, she never gropes, is never sloppy in her style.

Her humility and her positive terror that she will not do good work, are unusual in an author of such standing. Her sister tells me that while she is at work on a story she is often miserable for fear she is not making her point, is not getting, to the best of her ability, the effect she wants. She is constantly studying life. She has friends whose viewpoints greatly vary, yet I am sure that she is sympathetic with all of them, and with perfect sincerity. She is dramatic, yet simple, and she does not overdramatize events.

At present Miss Ferber is living in Manhattan and working on a play with George Kaufman. She has taken a fairly long lease on an apartment which overlooks Central Park. There she lives with her mother, a genial, happy person who takes much delight in entertaining Miss Ferber's friends.

Miss Ferber has lived most of her life in Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois. She began her career as a reporter at the age of 17. She made her great reputation as a short story writer.

Apprenticeship to the sort of short story Miss Ferber has written--often slightly plotted, delicate character sketches in which the drama is of emotions rather than events--is splendid training for the writing of a novel. Compare So Big with Lummox (TIME, Oct. 29). Miss Hurst's book has passages of genius. Analyzed, however, it is a collection of sketches around a single theme. So Big, however, is in no sense a book written by an author wedded to short story technique. It is a fine novel. It moves steadily through its technical parts and its emotion value is strong. J. F.