The world lost a great writer and a great woman when Nora Ephron died last week, but her beloved books and films will live on for generations to come.
Ephron’s books may not be as well-known as her screenplays, but they’re just as insightful and funny. It’s unfortunate that the most popular of Ephron’s back catalog of books aren’t available in Kindle edition, but we hope her publishers will move to release all of her books in Kindle form.
With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron shares with us her ups and downs in I Feel Bad About My Neck, a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself.
Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age. Utterly courageous, uproariously funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I Feel Bad About My Neck is a scrumptious, irresistible treat of a book, full of truths, laugh out loud moments that will appeal to readers of all ages.
Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.
Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has “a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs” is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wiching him dead, Ephron’s irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.
Heartburn was adapted into a movie too, starring Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson (rated R, avg review rating 4/5 stars, $2.99 to rent, $9.99 to buy).
Finally, what Nora Ephron collection would be complete without the hilarious and touching When Harry Met Sally… ? Starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, this movie is rated R, has an average review rating of 4.75/5 stars, and is priced at $2.99 to rent and $9.99 to buy. From Amazon:
Does sex make it impossible for men and women to be true friends? The film chronicles this dilemma through the eleven year relationship between Harry and Sally who meet in college, then pursue their own lives until they reconnect ten years later.
Now, fans of the film can also read the movie screenplay in Kindle format.