Imitation of Life (Paperback)

Fannie Hurst

ISBN 10: 0822333244 / ISBN 13: 9780822333241

Published by Duke University Press, North Carolina, 2004

About this Item

Paperback. A bestseller in 1933, the novel Imitation of Life was made into two popular movies. Most well known today is Douglas Sirk's lush, stylized 1959 adaptation starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore. The first film version, released in 1934, featured the Hollywood star Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, the most celebrated black actress of her day. Imitation of Life is the story of Bea Pullman, a white, middle-class widow, and her African American maid, Delilah Johnston, also a widow. The two women raise their daughters together and eventually collaborate on a restaurant venture. By combining Bea's business savvy with Delilah's irresistible southern recipes, they build an international restaurant empire. Yet their public success brings little happiness at home. Bea is torn between her responsibilities as a businesswoman and a mother. Delilah's light-skinned daughter, Peola, moves away in an attempt to pass as white. The book's central themes - relating to race, single motherhood, femininity, and the consumer marketplace - struck a chord with many readers in the 1930s and continue to resonate today.The novel's author, Fannie Hurst, was a major celebrity in the first half of the twentieth century. A highly paid writer of short stories, the author of numerous bestselling melodramatic novels, and an outspoken social activist, Hurst was surprised at the level of controversy generated by her characterizations of African Americans and inter-racial relations in Imitation of Life. Her friend Langston Hughes wrote a one-act parody, Limitations of Life, in which he reversed the races of Bea and Delilah. Daniel Itzkovitz's introduction situates Imitation of Life in its literary, biographical, and cultural contexts. Among the topics Itzkovitz addresses is the role of Zora Neale Hurston in the novel's development. Hurston worked as Fannie Hurst's personal secretary for a time. They later became friends, and Hurst's memoirs indicate that Imitation of Life is based in part on their relationship. This edition brings a classic of popular American literature back into print. A reprint of the 1933 classic novel, the basis for two film versions, with a new introduciton. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780822333241

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Imitation of Life (Paperback)
• Publisher: Duke University Press, North Carolina
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0822333244
• ISBN 13: 9780822333241
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

A bestseller in 1933, and subsequently adapted into two beloved and controversial films, Imitation of Life has played a vital role in ongoing conversations about race, femininity, and the American Dream. Bea Pullman, a white single mother, and her African American maid, Delilah Johnston, also a single mother, rear their daughters together and become business partners. Combining Bea’s business savvy with Delilah’s irresistible southern recipes, they build an Aunt Jemima-like waffle business and an international restaurant empire. Yet their public success brings them little happiness. Bea is torn between her responsibilities as a businesswoman and those of a mother; Delilah is devastated when her light-skinned daughter, Peola, moves away to pass as white. Imitation of Life struck a chord in the 1930s, and it continues to resonate powerfully today.

The author of numerous bestselling novels, a masterful short story writer, and an outspoken social activist, Fannie Hurst was a major celebrity in the first half of the twentieth century. Daniel Itzkovitz’s introduction situates Imitation of Life in its literary, biographical, and cultural contexts, addressing such topics as the debates over the novel and films, the role of Hurst’s one-time secretary and great friend Zora Neale Hurston in the novel’s development, and the response to the novel by Hurst’s friend Langston Hughes, whose one-act satire, “Limitations of Life” (which reverses the races of Bea and Delilah), played to a raucous Harlem crowd in the late 1930s. This edition brings a classic of popular American literature back into print.

About the Author

Fannie Hurst (1889–1968) was a popular writer of many novels and short stories. Among her best-known works are Back Street (1930) and Lummox (1923).

Daniel Itzkovitz is Associate Professor of English and Director of American Studies at Stonehill College in North Easton, Massachusetts. He is a coeditor of Queer Theory and the Jewish Question.