Synopses & Reviews
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 Beaandrsquo;s business savvy with Delilahandrsquo;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 Itzkovitzandrsquo;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 Hurstandrsquo;s one-time secretary and great friend Zora Neale Hurston in the novelandrsquo;s development, and the response to the novel by Hurstandrsquo;s friend Langston Hughes, whose one-act satire, andldquo;Limitations of Lifeandrdquo; (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.
Review
andldquo;Although itandrsquo;s a andlsquo;whiteandrsquo; novel, Imitation of Life is certainly a part of the African American canon. No film was more important to me as a andlsquo;coloredandrsquo; child growing up in West Virginia; the funeral scene has to move even the most stoic viewer to tears. Now this new edition of the novel brings this richly layered story back into public view, where it will, I hope, remain.andrdquo;andmdash;Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard University
Review
andldquo;Daniel Itzkovitzandrsquo;s brilliant edition of Imitation of Life places this controversial novel at the center of U.S. literary, cinematic, and social history. Fannie Hurstandrsquo;s novel deserves to be read in its own right, but here its importance as a register of white anxieties about the ethics of American racism and of consumer fantasies for overcoming the particular body are also showcased richly.andrdquo;andmdash;Lauren Berlant, author of The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship
Review
andldquo;This new edition of an influential American classicandmdash;one of the first books in twentieth-century popular literature to grapple with issues of gender and raceandmdash;is reason enough to celebrate, but Daniel Itzkovitzandrsquo;s splendid and insightful introduction reclaims for Fannie Hurst a preeminent position as an essential American literary figure whose work matters today more than ever.andrdquo;andmdash;Michael Bronski, author of The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom
Synopsis
A reprint of the 1933 classic novel, the basis for two film versions, with a new introduciton.
About the Author
“Although it’s a ‘white’ novel, Imitation of Life is certainly a part of the African American canon. No film was more important to me as a ‘colored’ child growing up in West Virginia; the funeral scene has to move even the most stoic viewer to tears. Now this new edition of the novel brings this richly layered story back into public view, where it will, I hope, remain.”—Henry Louis Gates Jr., Harvard University“Daniel Itzkovitz’s brilliant edition of Imitation of Life places this controversial novel at the center of U.S. literary, cinematic, and social history. Fannie Hurst’s novel deserves to be read in its own right, but here its importance as a register of white anxieties about the ethics of American racism and of consumer fantasies for overcoming the particular body are also showcased richly.”—Lauren Berlant, author of The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship“This new edition of an influential American classic—one of the first books in twentieth-century popular literature to grapple with issues of gender and race—is reason enough to celebrate, but Daniel Itzkovitz’s splendid and insightful introduction reclaims for Fannie Hurst a preeminent position as an essential American literary figure whose work matters today more than ever.”—Michael Bronski, author of The Pleasure Principle: Sex, Backlash, and the Struggle for Gay Freedom