Cimarron

by Edna Ferber

Book Overview

1929. Edna Ferber, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Show Boat and Giant, gives us a ripping good read with Cimarron, the story of wandering Yancey Cravat, a pioneer newspaper editor and lawyer. Cravat settles in Osage, a muddy town thrown together overnight when the Oklahoma territory opens in 1889. To this place he brings his wife Sabra, a woman both conventional and well-bred. Against all odds, Sabra develops a brilliant business sense. She makes...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385040695
• ISBN13: 9780385040693
• Release Date: January 1951
• Publisher: Doubleday Books

Customer Reviews

Dated, but Intriguing!

Having had this book recommended to me because I am a fan of James Michener's work, I eagerly dove into this story of the earliest years of white settlement of Oklahoma. And I stayed immersed in it until the final page! Although Ferber's portrayal of blacks is dated and condescending, readers who can overlook this fault will find a plot and characters that grab their interest from the start. Curiously, although her Indian characters generally are flat and unpolished portrayals, those whites who speak up for the displaced Indians are quite eloquent in defense of those same Indians. The story of the Sooners, the Cherokee Strip, the impact of "Oil!" and the eventual statehood of Oklahoma is sure to provide an entertaining--and perhaps even informative and enlightening--selection for readers who don't mind the occasional purple prose paragraph. I'd recommend it!