Imitation of Life [Paperback]

Fannie Hurst (Author), Daniel Itzkovitz (Editor), Daniel Itzkovitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2004

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

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.

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Duke University Press Books (November 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822333244
• ISBN-13: 978-0822333241
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIMITATION OF LIFE..., February 2, 2005

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imitation of Life (Paperback)

This is an oldie but a goodie, and although it may seem somewhat anachronistic, in fact, almost embarrassingly and offensively so, it is well worth reading. A best selling novel when it was first released in 1933, the reader should keep in mind that much of what is in the book would today be perceived as racist. The book is reflective of a paternalistic view of African-Americans that was prevalent at the time in which this book was written. It is certainly a view that is jarring in these more enlightened times, as the books reflects the nature of the racism that was then inherent in our society. This is not a book that would be written today, as modern society, though still racist in many ways, would view it as being totally politically incorrect.

That being said, the book focuses on two female characters, Bea Pullman, a white teenage widow living in Atlantic City, New Jersey with her elderly father and a baby daughter named Jessie, and Delilah Johnston, a young black widow with a light-skinned baby daughter named Peola. Both women are struggling to survive in pre-World War I society, where the lot of widows in a man's world could be a difficult one. When they join forces, an alliance born of necessity is forged. Delilah becomes Bea's housekeeper and caregiver, taking on the traditional woman's role, while Bea struggles to be the breadwinner in a world not yet hospitable to the idea of a business woman.

When Delilah's culinary talents merge with Bea's innate business acumen, they are both on their way to fame and fortune. Before you know it, Bea is making a mint with Delilah's recipes, running a successful chain of B. Pullman waffle emporiums, which are presided over by a mammy figure imitative of Delilah, as well as a successful line of candy called Delilah's hearts, bearing Delilah's beaming image on the box. Delilah, thus, becomes a beloved icon, a sort of revered mammy, but a mammy, nonetheless. Bea, on the other hand, remains somewhat of a behind-the-scene enigma, eventually branching out into real estate development and becoming a phenomenon for a woman of that time.

Meanwhile, Delilah continues to remain with Bea, living with her and waiting on her, always the perennial mammy. While Bea always treats Delilah with affection and care, there is not a level playing field between the two. Delilah treats Bea with worshipping servitude, while Bea treats Delilah as if she were a beloved family retainer. There is something reminiscent of the old master/slave dichotomy in their relationship. Moreover, while Bea is cognizant of Delilah's contribution to her financial success, they are not contractual business partners, as Bea pays Delilah a salary, though a lesser one than Bea would like, as Delilah refuses raises. Moreover, although there is great affection between the two, the issue of color is always there, both overtly and covertly.

Meanwhile, the years have passed, and Delilah's light-skinned daughter, Peola, clearly knows the score. She certainly has no intention of being anyone's mammy and wants to pass for white, as she does not wish to be relegated to second class citizenry. She does not try to do this because she wants to be white, but rather, she wants the advantages associated with being white in that time. She simply wants what Jessie has. Hers is not a decision based upon race self-hate, but one that is based upon a realistic assessment of how she could be all she could be. Peola's philosophy is that there is nothing wrong in passing, but rather, the wrong is inherent in a world that would make such necessary. Still, Peola breaks Delilah's heart by doing this, and Delilah is sustained only by her stalwart faith in God. When Delilah dies, a waffle queen icon to millions, the person dearest to her heart, her own flesh and blood, is missing from her funeral cortege.

Bea is not without her share of heartbreak, as well. She spends years struggling to make that almighty buck and ensure that everyone within the sphere of her hearth is taken take of financially. She rises to great heights in the business world, leaving little time for that man lovin' that Delilah is always talking about. Bea struggles to give her daughter Jessie all the advantages she never had. When Bea finally falls in love with Flake, a man several years younger than her and a trusted business confidant, she finds that her daughter has already laid claim to his heart. Without that man lovin' and with her beloved Delilah having gone to meet her Maker, Bea is left to face her imitation of life.

This is really a wonderful soaper of a book. From it would flow two successful, though controversial, film adaptations. Both the 1934 version with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, as well as the 1959 one starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, are terrific and well worth seeing. Though both are loose adaptations, it is the 1934 version that is probably the one truest to the book. In the context of today's society, however, each film will shock the viewer's sensibilities with its political incorrectness, as will the book.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars RESPONSE TO "Suds from a bygone era"., April 25, 2005

By 

Sami Smith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imitation of Life (Paperback)

The reason you didn't really get the lesbian connection is because it isn't there. In the book and in both versions of the movie, maids/live-in-housekeepers were the norm and friendship of any kind was rare between the classes, much less the races, ...the whole point of the story! (Bea treating Delilah like a business-woman and business-partner is the more heartwarming part of the story.) You can see this in the 1934 movie by the fact that Delilah is answering a newspaper ad for a colored maid and in the 1959 movie by the fact that they are put up in the room behind the kitchen (Sarah-Jane whines about "why do we always have to sleep behind the kitchen")...servants quarters in smaller houses and apartments were always a small room behind the kitchen, often w/a back entrance (in the 1934 mansion it is a downstairs entrance) near the kitchen so as to be close to where the maid spent most of her time cooking and so as to be out of the way of white guests. Your friends should re-read the book in the context in which it was written in 1933 and not the context in which they wish it to have been written in 2005.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LIMITATION OF LIFE..., June 4, 2008

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imitation of Life (Paperback)

This is an oldie but a goodie, and although it may seem somewhat anachronistic, in fact, almost embarrassingly and offensively so, it is well worth reading. A best selling novel when it was first released in 1933, the reader should keep in mind that much of what is in the book would today be perceived as racist. The book is reflective of a paternalistic view of African-Americans that was prevalent at the time in which this book was written. It is certainly a view that is jarring in these more enlightened times, as the books reflects the nature of the racism that was then inherent in our society. This is not a book that would be written today, as modern society, though still racist in many ways, would view it as being totally politically incorrect.

That being said, the book focuses on two female characters, Bea Pullman, a white teenage widow living in Atlantic City, New Jersey with her elderly father and a baby daughter named Jessie, and Delilah Johnston, a young black widow with a light-skinned baby daughter named Peola. Both women are struggling to survive in pre-World War I society, where the lot of widows in a man's world could be a difficult one. When they join forces, an alliance born of necessity is forged. Delilah becomes Bea's housekeeper and caregiver, taking on the traditional woman's role, while Bea struggles to be the breadwinner in a world not yet hospitable to the idea of a business woman.

When Delilah's culinary talents merge with Bea's innate business acumen, they are both on their way to fame and fortune. Before you know it, Bea is making a mint with Delilah's recipes, running a successful chain of B. Pullman waffle emporiums, which are presided over by a mammy figure imitative of Delilah, as well as a successful line of candy called Delilah's hearts, bearing Delilah's beaming image on the box. Delilah, thus, becomes a beloved icon, a sort of revered mammy, but a mammy, nonetheless. Bea, on the other hand, remains somewhat of a behind-the-scene enigma, eventually branching out into real estate development and becoming a phenomenon for a woman of that time.

Meanwhile, Delilah continues to remain with Bea, living with her and waiting on her, always the perennial mammy. While Bea always treats Delilah with affection and care, there is not a level playing field between the two. Delilah treats Bea with worshipping servitude, while Bea treats Delilah as if she were a beloved family retainer. There is something reminiscent of the old master/slave dichotomy in their relationship. Moreover, while Bea is cognizant of Delilah's contribution to her financial success, they are not contractual business partners, as Bea pays Delilah a salary, though a lesser one than Bea would like, as Delilah refuses raises. Moreover, although there is great affection between the two, the issue of color is always there, both overtly and covertly.

Meanwhile, the years have passed, and Delilah's light-skinned daughter, Peola, clearly knows the score. She certainly has no intention of being anyone's mammy and wants to pass for white, as she does not wish to be relegated to second class citizenry. She does not try to do this because she wants to be white, but rather, she wants the advantages associated with being white in that time. She simply wants what Jessie has. Hers is not a decision based upon race self-hate, but one that is based upon a realistic assessment of how she could be all she could be. Peola's philosophy is that there is nothing wrong in passing, but rather, the wrong is inherent in a world that would make such necessary. Still, Peola breaks Delilah's heart by doing this, and Delilah is sustained only by her stalwart faith in God. When Delilah dies, a waffle queen icon to millions, the person dearest to her heart, her own flesh and blood, is missing from her funeral cortege.

Bea is not without her share of heartbreak, as well. She spends years struggling to make that almighty buck and ensure that everyone within the sphere of her hearth is taken take of financially. She rises to great heights in the business world, leaving little time for that man lovin' that Delilah is always talking about. Bea struggles to give her daughter Jessie all the advantages she never had. When Bea finally falls in love with Flake, a man several years younger than her and a trusted business confidant, she finds that her daughter has already laid claim to his heart. Without that man lovin' and with her beloved Delilah having gone to meet her Maker, Bea is left to face her imitation of life.

This is really a wonderful soaper of a book. From it would flow two successful, though controversial, film adaptations. Both the 1934 version with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, as well as the 1959 one starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, are terrific and well worth seeing. Though both are loose adaptations, it is the 1934 version that is probably the one truest to the book. In the context of today's society, however, each film will shock the viewer's sensibilities with its political incorrectness, as will the book.