Red ribbon on a white horse

by Anzia Yezierska

The autobiography of the important Jewish immigrant novelist. Here is Anzia Yezierska's life story, from the Polish ghetto to the sweatshops of New York's Lower East Side, from success as a writer in Hollywood in the 1920s to disillusionment and a return to poverty. With courage and emotion, Yezierska reveals what success and failure felt like and what they meant to her, as a woman and as an artist.

Genres: Memoir, Jewish, Nonfiction, Biography

220 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Anzia Yezierska was a Jewish-American novelist born in Mały Płock, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire. She emigrated as a child with her parents to the United States and lived in the immigrant neighborhood of the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Reviews

[Jeremy · Rating 1 out of 5]

It pains me to give such a blisteringly negative review to a book by a distant relative, but my great aunt Anzia Yezierska wrote a memoir that is neither amusing nor factual. It contains within it the worst sins of the rest of her writings, without the coherence and poignancy that save the best of her work. Red Ribbon is relentlessly banal in its prose and in its observations. The same emotional rollercoaster is taken again and again. Anzia feels worthless and without talent. Suddenly, somehow, things work out--she sells a story, she gets to hollywood, her book is published, she finds love. But each time, her neurotic insecurities prevent her from succeeding, she's dragged back into poverty and obscurity. She doesn't learn, she doesn't grow, she doesn't even go deeper into depression. I would have never finished this book had I not gritted my teeth and said "dang it, it must get better at some point!" Nope. Her daughter's afterword is far better written, and makes the subtle point that in her mother's memoir, what is most interesting is what was omitted and lied about. Anzia had ten brothers and sisters, and yet they scarcely make an appearance. She was twice married at an early age, but does not mention either. She was a mother, but you'd never know it from this book. She had a college education of sorts, at Columbia, and was befriended by the great John Dewey, with whom she had an adulterous affair. But that is left out, except that Dewey is disguised as a lawyer who hires Anzia and then breaks her heart. Anzia's story is one of triumph, I guess, in the sense that she became a famous novelist and writer in her second language despite the immense barriers of sexism and anti-Semitism. And her best book, Breadgivers, and a few of her best short stories, are worth reading. But this autobiography is only worth reading if you are writing a PhD on Yezierska. Otherwise, steer clear. It's terribly written, with no dramatic arc or compelling characters. Moreover, the few historical figures that cross into it, such as Richard Wright, and Will Rogers, and Sam Goldwyn, have very little of importance to say, and given how Anzia deceives the reader at various points, I have no confidence that they actually said anything remotely like what she has them saying.

[Miri M · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, it isn't an autobiography. It is a fictionalized memoir. I would say it is a memoir of self-discovery and trying to find a place in the world. She left a place, grew up in a different place, tried out Hollywood and was rich, and then became poor in the place where she grew up. In each place, she faces disillusionment and uncertainty.
At some point, she moves to NH, and there her difference helps to illuminate her essence, and she leaves.
I enjoyed the book, but knowing it isn't for everyone, I gave it 3 stars.

[Rowan Spangler · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bit of this memoir is purely narrative, describing the Jewish ghetto of NYC and the golden age of Hollywood. She introduces heartbreaking and charming side characters, like Zalmon Shlomoh, the hunchbacked fishmonger. Many of Yezierska’s reflections can be repetitive and a bit old fashioned, but the last section of the book slams into you with her beautiful philosophical realizations and descriptive, flowery prose.
Read this book if you are into discussions on the writer’s soul and spirit, Jewish history (especially American history), or the concept of “success” and “monetary value.”

[Kressel Housman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books EVER. It is the story of how immigrant writer Anzia Yezierska became the J.K. Rowling of her day, how she lost it all in the Depression, and most of all, her yearning for the Judaism she left behind.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anzia Yezierska arrived from the Pale of Settlement, without a penny or a word of English to her name. Her father told her she would amount to nothing. She worked in a sweatshop and studied English at night. Her stories about the people who populated her tenement and ghetto streets were rejected by numerous magazines until one of them one a prize. And the prize turned into a Hollywood contract and a glittering life. Then came the Depression, and, once again penniless, she joined the WPA Writers Project. A rare story, very layered, well-told.
I just reread it and liked it very much again. Although this time, I read the Epilogue, written by her daughter, whom she never mentions in the "autobiography!" There's another story there...
he daughter also wrote that a lot of the narrative is fictionalized, although the essence of the book and her (changing) philosophy and perspective is true.
What I admire so much about Yezierska's writing is her ability to contain conflicting emotions in the same chapter even paragraph even sentence -- which is often how we really are when torn about a decision, a blame, a reaction to someone. She really captures that nuance well, and it is believable, once you start believing in the character.
Now I notice that she subtitles her book : "My Story" -- i.e. it's her story and she's sticking to it, even if it is not an actual accounting of her life! Fair enough.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 4 out of 5]

Memoir of the great Jewish immigrant writer from the early part of the 1900's. Skips most of her personal life to focus on going from the extreme of poverty to the excess wealth of Hollywood when her stories were purchased for a movie. After that failure, she talks about working for the WPA during the depression. Read her novels and story collection, then check this out.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way she questioned how her life was changing. Even as her novels were accepted for publication, she never felt that she fit in. I particularly appreciated the class consciousness of her memoir & other books.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting so far.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will definitely read her fiction someday soon.

[Owl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book for than The Bread Giver; it felt more real. Even though it's a fictionalize autobiography Anzia/the main character looked at her writing journey with brutal honesty. The aspects of the book that addressed the artist's process, dilemma etc. really spoke to me. Usually I notice not the structure of something, but the way words are used, the poetry of the language. I didn't notice that, which is unusualy for me. Instead, I was mesmerized from the first to last page.

[Judy Freidhof · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anzia's memoir focuses more on her insecurities with her early successes, financial ruin of the stock market crash and her relationship with her father. Born into extreme poverty, she never could escape that mindset which dominated her entire life.

[Emma Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written novel that explores the life of Anzia Yezierska as she saw it, struggling to find herself within the midst of her Jewishness, poverty, fame, and wealth.

[Jonna · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ll written, engaging. Clear thematics.