SKU: 8321429419

Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-Selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American Film

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Giant Love: Edna Ferber, Her Best-Selling Novel of Texas, and the Making of a Classic American FilmTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE A book that explores the great American novelist and playwright Edna Ferber, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Ficton, whose work was made into many Academy Award winning movies; the writing of her controversial, international best selling novel about Texas, and the making of George Stevens' Academy Award winning epic film of the same name, Giant. The stupendous publication of Edna Ferber's Giant in 1952

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS' CHOICE - A book that explores the great American novelist and playwright Edna Ferber, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Ficton, whose work was made into many Academy Award-winning movies; the writing of her controversial, international best-selling novel about Texas, and the making of George Stevens' Academy Award winning epic film of the same name, Giant.

The stupendous publication of Edna Ferber's Giant in 1952 set off a storm of protest over the novel's portrayal of Texas manners, money and mores with oil-rich Texans threatening to shoot, lynch or ban Ferber from ever entering the state again.

In Giant Love, Julie Gilbert writes of the internationally best-selling Ferber, one of the most widely read writers in the first half of the 20th Century - her evolution from mid-west maverick girl-reporter to Pulitzer Prize winning, beloved American novelist, from her want-to-be actress days to becoming Broadway's acclaimed prize-winning playwright whose collaborators - George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart, among them, were, along with Ferber, herself, the most successful playwrights of their time.

Here is the making of an American classic novel and the film that followed in its wake. We see how George Stevens, Academy-Award winning director, wooed the prickly, stubborn Ferber, ultimately getting her to agree to everything including writing, for the first time ever, a draft of a screenplay, to her okaying James Dean for the part of the ranch hand, Jett Rink, something she was dead set against.

Here is the casting of Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean and their backstory triangle of sex and seduction - each becoming a huge star because of the film; the frustrated Stevens trying to direct the instinctive but undisciplined Dean, and the months long landmark filming in the sleepy town of Marfa, Texas, suddenly invaded by a battalion of a film crew and some of the biggest stars in the rising celebrity culture.

Author: Julie Gilbert
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 12/03/2024
Pages: 400
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.53h x 6.38w x 1.49d
ISBN: 9781524748432


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/2024 pg. 9
Kirkus Reviews 12/01/2024
Shelf Awareness 12/01/2024
Booklist 12/01/2024 pg. 98

About the Author
JULIE GILBERT was born in New York City and was educated at Boston University. She is the author of four books, among them a biography of her great aunt, Edna Ferber, Edna Ferber and Her Circle and Opposite Attraction The Lives of Erich Maria Remarque and Paulette Goddard, Gilbert is a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Writers Guild of America, East, The Authors Guild, Actors' Equity, and League of Professional Theater Women. She has taught Creative Writing at New York University's School of Continuing Education and currently heads The Writers Academy at The Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida where she lives part time, as well as in New York City.
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SKU: 8321429419

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Whispering Hills Farm
Belleville, US
★★★★★ 5
$100 helping small business 😄
I love this 😍 It will help a small business buy labels, or just something that they need to function and continue their business!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2026
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Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 4
Interesting Mutter
interesting
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2026
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C. Seiden
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 5
Convenient Accessibility
It's great to have a company card that my employees can have access to for office supplies and other purchases. Thank you Amazon 🙏
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Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2026
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Bice
Draper, US
★★★★★ 5
The Christmas movie no TV stations ever seem to show during the holidays
Since Amazon lumps the reviews for all the various releases of this movie together, I want to be clear that this review is for the single disc, 132 minute blu-ray version with the cover picture of smiling man made of bricks with the word "Brazil" flying out of the top of his head. For those who don't know the history of this movie - there are at least three different versions. It was originally released in Europe as a nearly two and half hour long film. The studio who financed it didn't like that version because it A. was too long, B. was too uncommercial and C. had a dark, depressing ending. The contract they had with Gilliam stipulated that the movie had to be less than 2 hours and 15 minutes, so it could have multiple prime-time showings in theaters. They suggested he cut the ending. Gilliam refused, so the studio took it upon themselves to create the "Love Conquers All" version, which chopped out almost an hour of footage - they only kept the parts that showed the main character Sam in a heroic light, anything that contributed to the Sam/Jill love story and anything that featured Robert DiNero. And, of course, the ending was changed to a happy ending by removing the final scene. Also, to make the plot easier to follow, they used some alternate takes, some deleted footage and hired voice actors to overdub dialog. Unsurprisingly, Gilliam didn't want that version released, so he finally edited the movie down to 2 hours and 12 minutes, kept the dark ending and made a few other minor changes and the studio was contractually obligated to release that version to theaters in the United States. It's this US version that appears on the blu-ray, with absolutely no additional features (not even the Gilliam commentary that's included on most other releases of the film). Annoyingly, they also added advertisements for other movies to the main menu screen. But I'm still happy to have this version, because it's the first time I've seen the "US edit" since originally seeing the film in a theater on the campus of Penn State back in my college days. I can't really write an unbiased review of the movie itself, because from that first viewing I became obsessed with both Brazil and Terry Gilliam's films in general. I bought all his movies on VHS as soon as they came out and eventually replaced them with DVDs. I bought the 3-DVD Criterion "Final Cut" version of Brazil back when it was an expensive new release. I was surprised that it included scenes I'd never seen before - I think it's based mostly on the European version, with some additional tweaks by Gilliam. It also included the "Love Conquers All" version of the movie and a ton of bonus features. Sadly though, it wasn't animorphic, so on my widescreen TV it put black letterboxing bars on all four sides, shrinking the picture down to about 60% of the screen. This blu-ray was exactly what I was looking for. While it's missing a few (non-essential) scenes, it's the version of the movie that I "grew up" with and is presented in full 16X9 animorphic widescreen. It's the best looking version I've seen since originally seeing it in the theater. For example, I never really noticed the makeup on Katherine Hellmond at the beginning of the movie to make her look older (pre-surgery), but it's clearly visible on the blu-ray. I've always felt bad for one actress during the explosion scene in the restaurant because it looks like she really does get hit by some of the flying debris - the blu-ray is maybe a little too clear there, because now I can tell it's just a dressed-up mannequin. As for the movie itself - it's one of those films you'll either love or hate. Its alternate-reality, retro-futuristic look makes it seem nearly as fresh and amazing today as it did when it first came out. And the background plot of a government bureaucracy turning a country into a surveillance state in response to a perceived terrorist threat - I know it was based on things happening in England at the time, but it's like Gilliam had a crystal ball and looked 30 years into the United States' future. The alternating between "reality" and dream sequences and the general Gilliam quirkiness will probably put a lot of people off, but it's what drew me to this movie in the first place. If you become fanatical about the movie like I am, you'll need both this blu-ray and the Criterion release. To fully experience the film you need to see every version (even the Love Conquers All version) because each one includes bits that aren't in any of the others. If you do decide to watch Brazil and find that you like it, give some of Gilliam's more recent movies a try, like The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassis and The Zero Theorem. Really, if you like odd, out-of-the-mainstream movies that you'll be thinking about for days after you see them, you can't go wrong with pretty much any Terry Gilliam film.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2016
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Doug S.
Battle Creek, US
★★★★★ 5
One Of My Top Ten Movies
It's a Terry Gilliam masterpiece that blends a touch of Monty Python, Twilight Zone, and Broadway! Worth the watch!
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Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2026

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