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58+ Works 9,857 Members 345 Reviews 15 Favorited

About the Author

Nora Ephron was born in Manhattan on May 19, 1941. While attending Wellesley College, she was a summer intern in the Kennedy White House in 1961. After graduating in 1962, she began her career as a journalist with the New York Post, where she remained until 1968. She then focused on magazine show more journalism and primarily wrote for Esquire and New York. She wrote several books during her lifetime including Heartburn, Wallflower at the Orgy, Crazy Salad: Some Things about Women, Scribble Scribble, I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Reflections on Being a Woman, and I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections. In her later years, she was a blogger for The Huffington Post. She wrote several screenplays including Silkwood (1983), Heartburn (1986), and When Harry Met Sally (1989). She also wrote and directed several movies including This Is My Life (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), Lucky Numbers (2000), Bewitched (2005), and Julie and Julia (2009). She wrote two plays Love, Loss, and What I Wore with her sister and Imaginary Friends. Her title I Remember Nothing made The New York Times Best Seller List for 2012. She died from pneumonia brought on by acute myeloid leukemia on June 26, 2012 at the age of 71. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Ilona Lieberman

Works by Nora Ephron

Heartburn (1983) 1,797 copies
You've Got Mail [1998 film] (1998) — Director/Screenwriter — 562 copies
Sleepless in Seattle [1993 film] (1993) — Director/Screenwriter — 516 copies
Julie & Julia [2009 film] (2009) — Director; Screenwriter — 414 copies
Wallflower at the orgy (1970) 281 copies
The Most of Nora Ephron (2013) — Author — 263 copies
Bewitched [2005 film] (2005) — Director/Screenwriter — 183 copies
Scribble Scribble (1978) 135 copies
Michael [1996 movie] (1996) — Director, Screenplay & Producer — 78 copies
Mixed Nuts [1994 film] (1994) 54 copies
Imaginary Friends (2003) 54 copies
Crazy Salad Plus 9 (1984) 43 copies
Nora Ephron Collected (1991) 37 copies
Double Feature: City of Angels / Michael (2007) — Director — 26 copies
And now here's Johnny! (1968) 11 copies
Lucky Guy (2014) 11 copies
Romantic Comedy Double Feature (2008) — Director — 8 copies
Tribeca Talks (2004) 6 copies
2 Comedy Films: Will Ferrell (2009) — Director — 5 copies
Att gå vidare (2018) 4 copies
Julie & Julia {script} (2008) 3 copies
Doc Hollywood & Mr Wonderful & Michael (2disc) (2006) — Director — 3 copies
CUELLO NO ENGA�A (ALBA) (2008) 2 copies
Embrujada 1 copy
Triple Feature: Meg Ryan — Director — 1 copy
Non mi ricordo niente (2011) 1 copy
This Is My Life [VHS] (1992) 1 copy
3 Films: Tom Hanks — Director — 1 copy

Associated Works

When Harry Met Sally... [1989 film] (1989) — Screenwriter — 552 copies
Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink (2007) — Contributor — 527 copies
The Best of Modern Humor (1983) — Contributor — 287 copies
Russell Baker's Book of American Humor (1993) — Contributor — 201 copies
The Penguin Book of Women's Humour (1996) — Contributor — 114 copies
My Blue Heaven [1990 film] (1990) — Screenwriter — 62 copies
Silkwood [1983 film] (1983) — Screenwriter — 61 copies

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Reviews

This is a fantastic book. I felt the author in myself to be kindred souls, and I wanted to have lunch with her to just talk stuff over but unfortunately she died of cancer.
 
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laurelzito | 149 other reviews | Nov 4, 2023 |
As a fan of the films Ephron has written/directed, I knew I would probably like this as well. However, I did not expect to find myself quite as engaged or entertained as I was. Aside from the heavy use of a certain homophobic slur towards the end (1983 was a different time, after all), I feel like this was perfectly well-crafted with a story that is simple at it's core, but never bogged down by its flashbacks and personal anecdotes. I saw others point out how heavily autobiographical this- as someone who loves to hear other people's real life stories, I didn't mind how thinly veiled the autobiographical quality is. It has a witty voice that I can easily hear coming from the likes of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, but listening to the audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep was probably the best possible format I could've chosen to take in this book. I can't wait to read more books by Nora Ephron, as this is probably my favorite read of the year.… (more)
 
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aywebster | 73 other reviews | Oct 26, 2023 |
Heartburn seems to me like one of those books that everyone else has read besides me. After a mention of Nora Ephron in the book I was previously reading (Park Avenue Summer by Renee Rosen), I thought it was high time that I dug it out. It’s a very funny read that I read in just over 24 hours.

The story is about the end of a marriage. And yes, it is very, very funny in places. In others, it’s painful and sad and occasionally it’s about the logistics of dismantling something that was meant to be forever. It’s not a deep look at all the feelings and problems, but it’s a fun read. Rachel is a food writer who is seven months pregnant when she finds out his husband has been having an affair with a tall, plain woman. It’s a jolt straight to the heart and Rachel takes off for New York. It’s a bumpy ride that involves family history and broken friendships (but overall, it’s still very funny).

Throughout the narrative are short recipes for a variety of foods (although no souffle, despite what the cover blurbs tell me). These sometimes worked for me, sometimes not. I understand that they are related to Rachel’s identity and food is a soothing mechanism for her, but sometimes they just pulled away from the story from me.

The story is generally quite funny overall despite the context, but it does get quite serious towards the end. It’s a sharp contrast to the earlier hilarity and mixed-up situations that Rachel finds herself in. Her soon to be ex, Mark, also steps up here from his endless searching for topics to write about in his column. I’m not sure whether it’s meant to redeem him in part, but it doesn’t last too long. Ephron takes any sympathy the reader might have felt for him and skewers it soon afterwards.
The whole story is brutally honest and not overly well structured – but given that Heartburn is what we would call autofiction these days, it has much more authenticity to it. It’s messy, full of bad decisions (think a drunken proposal before falling into a pond) and small wins, from the petty to the expensive. I liked Rachel’s voice – it’s rare to get a likeable character who remains that way despite full access to her thoughts and I enjoyed the revenge factor. Some of the story is quite dated in places (seriously, was paying for your plane ticket while on the plane a thing?!) and I still have no idea what a Cuisinart is because I’ve only ever known it as a brand of ice cream maker. Some attitudes to LGTBQIA people and the mentally unwell are also cringe inducing (and the long conversation about how one knows if a woman is a lesbian doesn’t really add to the plot). Other parts are an interesting look at history (do people still get mugged on the subway for their jewellery?).

Overall, this is a funny read – it’s not the be all and end all of literature, but it’s still good fun.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
… (more)
 
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birdsam0610 | 73 other reviews | Oct 18, 2023 |
A quirky semi-autobiographical novel about one woman's life dealing with her cheating husband while being seven months pregnant with their second child.

I've never read any of Ephron's books, but I have to say that her films are my guilty pleasures. She had an enchanting whit about her and could make the most depressing and severe situations (in this case finding out your husband is an absolute piece of garbage who is in love with another woman) sound light.

While this isn't really the type of book that I gravitate towards and I wouldn't exactly call it a "great novel," I was so captivated by her writing, humor, and charm. I HIGHLY suggest listening to this on audio - Meryl Streep is a phenomenal narrator.… (more)
 
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cbwalsh | 73 other reviews | Sep 13, 2023 |

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Associated Authors

Delia Ephron Screenwriter
Jeff Arch Screenwriter
David S. Ward Screenwriter
Herbert Ross Director
Adam McKay Director
Peter Howitt Director
Marc Lawrence Director
Nancy Meyers Director
Sol Saks Creator
P. J. Hogan Director
Meg Ryan Actor
Tom Hanks Actor

Statistics

Works
58
Also by
12
Members
9,857
Popularity
#2,418
Rating
½ 3.6
Reviews
345
ISBNs
198
Languages
13
Favorited
15
Touchstones
247

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