Nora Ephron

Nora Ephron was one of the most popular, accomplished, and beloved writers in American journalism and film. Nora Ephron: A Biography is the first comprehensive portrait of the Manhattan-born girl who forged a path of her own, earning accolades and adoration from critics and fans alike. Author Kristin Marguerite Doidge explores the tremendous successes and disappointing failures Ephron sustained in her career as a popular essayist turned screenwriter turned film director. She redefined the modern rom-com genre with bestselling books such as Heartburn and hit movies including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia. Doidge also examines the private life Ephron tried to keep in balance with her insatiable ambition. Based on rare archival research and numerous interviews with some of Ephron's closest friends, collaborators, and award-winning colleagues including actors Tom Hanks and Caroline Aaron, comedian Martin Short, composer George Fenton, and lifelong friends from Wellesley to New York to Hollywood—as well as interviews Ephron herself gave throughout her career—award-winning journalist and cultural critic Doidge has written a captivating story of the life of a creative writer whose passion for the perfect one-liner and ferocious drive to succeed revolutionized journalism, comedy, and film. The first in-depth biography to explore the complex themes that ran through Ephron's work and to examine why so many of them still grab our attention today.

Nora Ephron famously claimed that she wrote about every thought that ever crossed her mind, from her divorce from Carl Bernstein (Heartburn) to the size of her breasts ("A Few Words About Breasts"). She also wrote screenplays for three of the most successful contemporary romantic comedies--When Harry Met Sally (1989), Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and You've Got Mail (1998). Often considered mere light-hearted romantic comedies, her screenwriting has not been the subject of serious study. This book offers a sustained critical analysis of her work and life and demonstrates that Ephron is no lightweight. The complexity of her work is explored through the context of her childhood in a deeply dysfunctional family of writers.

For fans of When Harry Met Sally and readers of I Feel Bad About My Neck (which is to say, almost everyone!) comes an indispensible collection of wit and wisdom from the late, great Nora Ephron A hilarious and revealing look at one of America's most beloved screenwriters. From the beginning of her career as a young journalist to her final interview—a warm, wise, heartbreaking reflection originally published in the Believer—this is a sparkling look at the life and work of a great talent.

A whopping big celebration of the work of the late, great Nora Ephron, America’s funniest—and most acute—writer, famous for her brilliant takes on life as we’ve been living it these last forty years. Everything you could possibly want from Nora Ephron is here—from her writings on journalism, feminism, and being a woman (the notorious piece on being flat-chested, the clarion call of her commencement address at Wellesley) to her best-selling novel, Heartburn, written in the wake of her devastating divorce from Carl Bernstein; from her hilarious and touching screenplay for the movie When Harry Met Sally . . . (“I’ll have what she’s having”) to her recent play Lucky Guy (published here for the first time); from her ongoing love affair with food, recipes and all, to her extended takes on such controversial women as Lillian Hellman and Helen Gurley Brown; from her pithy blogs on politics to her moving meditations on aging (“I Feel Bad About My Neck”) and dying. Her superb writing, her unforgettable movies, her honesty and fearlessness, her nonpareil humor have made Nora Ephron an icon for America’s women—and not a few of its men.

A Study Guide for Nora Ephron's "Imaginary Friends," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama For Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama For Students for all of your research needs.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The neck is a dead giveaway. It starts to go at 43, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can put makeup on your face and concealer under your eyes, but that won’t help you conceal your neck. #2 If you are a certain age, you try to avoid looking in the mirror. If you have to, you begin by squinting so that if anything bad is looking back at you, you are already halfway to closing your eyes to ward off the sight. #3 I can’t stand people who say things like, It’s great to be old. I know that being old is something to be grateful for, but it’s my neck. I wish I had spent my youth staring lovingly at my neck.

Gathers humorous stories, poetry, and essays by American writers from Anne Bradstreet to Erma Bombeck and Erica Jong.

From Frida Kahlo and Elizabeth Taylor to Nora Ephron, Carrie Fisher, and Lena Dunham, this witty narrative explores what we can learn from the imperfect and extraordinary legacies of 29 iconic women who forged their own unique paths in the world. Smart, sassy, and unapologetically feminine, this elegantly illustrated book is an ode to the bold and charismatic women of modern history. Best-selling author Karen Karbo (The Gospel According to Coco Chanel) spotlights the spirited rule breakers who charted their way with little regard for expectations: Amelia Earhart, Helen Gurley Brown, Edie Sedgwick, Hillary Clinton, Amy Poehler, and Shonda Rhimes, among others. Their lives--imperfect, elegant, messy, glorious--provide inspiration and instruction for the new age of feminism we have entered. Karbo distills these lessons with wit and humor, examining the universal themes that connect us to each of these mesmerizing personalities today: success and style, love and authenticity, daring and courage. Being "difficult," Karbo reveals, might not make life easier. But it can make it more fulfilling--whatever that means for you. In the Reader's Guide included in the back of the book, Karbo asks thought-provoking questions about how we relate to each woman that will make for fascinating book club conversation.