Alphabet Authors ~ E is for Ephron

 

I found this idea on Simon's blog @ Stuck in a Book. He picks an author for each letter of the alphabet, sharing which of their books he's read, which I ones he owns, how he came across them etc.

I had to choose between Ephron or Eliot and it was a hard decision but in the end, I had to go with Nora Ephron.

Doidge, Kristin Marguerite "Nora Ephron: A Biography" (Goodreads)

- "Heartburn" - 1983

- "I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" - 2006 (short stories)

- "I Remember Nothing. And Other Reflections" - 2010 (short stories)

- "The Most of Nora Ephron" - 2014 (short stories)

- "When Harry Met Sally ..." - 1990

Facts about Nora Ephron:

Born    May 19, 1941 New York City, U.S.

Died    June 26, 2012 New York City, U.S. (aged 71)

Nora Ephron was married three times, her second husband was the journalist Carl Bernstein who investigated the Watergate Scandal and is the co-author of "All the President's Men". She based her novel "Heartburn" on her marriage and divorce. It was later made into a film with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson.

The characters Harry and Sally from the film (portrayed by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) are based on director Rob Reiner and herself. I once saw an interview with Nora Ephron where she told this story that she was on an airplane and explained precisely what she wanted to eat and how she wanted it. The flight attendant asked her whether she'd ever seen the movie When Harry Met Sally. Nora Ephron showed her sense of humour by laughing about it still years later.

The Tribeca Film Festival has awarded a Nora Ephron Prize for a female writer or filmmaker "with a distinctive voice" since 2013. 

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This is part of an ongoing series where I will write about a different author for each letter of the alphabet. You can see them all here.

Ephron, Nora "When Harry Met Sally ..."

Ephron, Nora "When Harry Met Sally ..." - 1990

Norah Ephron is one of my favourite writers and Rob Reiner is one of my favourite film directors. No wonder "When Harry Met Sally" is one of my favourite movies.

So, when I found the book with the script to the film, I had to put it on my list. It is almost like watching the movie, especially if you have seen it about a hundred times before and more or less know it by heart.

Of course, it also made me want to see the film again. In any case, I am happy to have the script and I can always go back to the scene I love the most, no it's not the one you think about that ends with "I'll have what she's having" but this one:

Waitress: "Hi, what can I get ya?"
Harry: "I'll have a number three."
Sally: "I'd like the chef salad please with the oil and vinegar on the side and the apple pie a la mode."
Waitress: "Chef and apple a la mode."
Sally: "But I'd like the pie heated and I don't want the ice cream on top I want it on the side and I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it if not then no ice cream just whipped cream but only if it's real if it's out of a can then nothing."
Waitress: "Not even the pie?"
Sally: "No, just the pie, but then not heated."
Waitress: "Ah"

I once saw an interview with Norah Ephron where she talked about being on a plane and changing an order the way she wanted it. The flight attendant asked her "Did you ever watch 'When Harry Met Sally'?" Anyway, it reminds me a little of me, maybe that's the reason I like this story so much.

From the back cover:

"Rob Reiner's enormously funny and moving When Harry Met Sally ... -- a romantic comedy about the difficult, frustrating, awful, funny search for happiness in an American city, where the primary emotion is unrequited love -- is delighting audiences everywhere. Now, the complete screenplay is published. Written by Nora Ephron -- author of screenplays for Silkwood and Heartburn (from her own best-selling novel) -- When Harry Met Sally...is as hilarious on the page as it is on the screen. The book includes an introduction by the author."

Ephron, Nora "Heartburn"

Ephron, Nora "Heartburn" - 1983

Most of my friends know what a big fan I am of Nora Ephron. I love her movies and I love everything I have read that she has written. Luckily for me, I haven't read everything, yet. One of those still wanted to be read was this novel. I story she made out of her own divorce from her second husband. Only Nora Ephron manages to make a funny story out of that disaster. A husband who leaves his wife for another (married) woman when she is seven months pregnant?!?! What a ... okay, I can't write any of the words I would like to call him on the internet but I think most people will agree and therefore I leave it to your imagination.

But only Nora Ephron would be able to make a comedy out of a tragedy. I had to laugh so much when reading this book even though I still would have loved to kick that husband of hers. The writing makes it extremely life-like, it almost seems like having been written by a woman at the end of her pregnancy without any support at all. But still smart and witty, just like the author.

The novel starts with an introduction where Nora Ephron tells us that her husband was mad at her for having written about it but - as she says - she had written about her life, his life, their life together before, what did he think? That she was all of a sudden taking a vow of silence?

I love Nora Ephron and her stories. I also love Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson. Why have I never seen this movie? I have no idea but I'm sure it's great and I'm going to look for it.

From the back cover:

"Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel discovers that her husband is in love with another woman. The fact that this woman has a 'neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb' is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel is a cookery writer, and between trying to win Mark back and wishing him dead, she offers us some of her favourite recipes. HEARTBURN is a roller coaster of love, betrayal, loss and - most satisfyingly - revenge. This is Nora Ephron's (screenwriter of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE) roman à clef: 'I always thought during the pain of the marriage that one day it would make a funny book,' she once said - And it is!"

Ephron, Nora "The Most of Nora Ephron"

Ephron, Nora "The Most of Nora Ephron" - 2014 

There is so much in Nora Ephron's writings that every woman can relate to. She is funny, she is hilarious, she is truthful. She says what she thinks, she says what a lot of women think and I love her for that. Maybe that is one of the reasons why "When Harry Met Sally" belongs to my favourite movies, it tells a story with real people in there.

I would love to quote from every single chapter in this great collection of her writings, some of which I had already read in "I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" and "I Remember Nothing. And Other Reflections" but that doesn't matter, reading them together and in this sequence makes a lot of sense and makes us understand the wonderful woman that was Nora Ephron even better.

Also, we travel in time with her, to her first years in journalism, to a time that changed a lot for women, and still not enough. I loved the insight into journalism as well as her point of view. I think every woman should read this, especially those that come after us. Such wisdom, such insight into the real world. Brilliant.

Nora, you left us far too early. RIP.

Some of my favourite quotes:

"Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I've accomplished something, learnt something, become a better person."

This is my favourite part in "When Harry Met Sally". No, not "I'll have what she's having" (although that's not bad, either) but the way Sally orders her apple pie.
Waitress: "Hi, what can I get you?"
Harry: "I'll have the Number Three."
Sally: "I'd like the chef salad, please, with the oil and vinegar on the side. And the apple pie à la mode."
Waitress: "Chef and apple à la mode."
Sally: "But I'd like the pie heated, and I don't want the ice cream on top, I want it on the side. And I'd like strawberry instead of vanilla if you have it. If not, then no ice cream, just whipped cream, but only if it's real. If it's out of a can, then nothing."
Waitress: "Not even the pie?"
Sally: "No, just the pie, but then not heated."
Waitress: "Ah."

And this sounds yummy:
Lee Lum's recipe for lemon chicken involved dipping strips of chicken-breast in water-chestnut flour, frying it, plunging it into a sauce that included crushed pineapple, and dousing the entire concoction with a one-ounce bottle of lemon extract.

Books and authors mentioned in her article "Rapture". (You can read the whole article here.)
Alcott, Louisa May "Little Women"
Austen, Jane  
Baum, L. Frank - Oz Series
Carré, John "Smiley's People"
Chabon, Michael "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay"
Chandler, Raymond
Collins, Wilkie "The Woman in White"
Frank, Anne "The Diary of a Young Girl"
Hodgson Burnett, Frances "A Little Princess"
Hulme, Kathryn "The Nun's Story"
Keene, Carolyn "Nancy Drew"
Lessing, Doris "The Golden Notebook"
McCloskey, Robert "Homer Price"
Montgomery, LM "Anne of Green Gables"
Puzo, Mario "The Godfather"
Thompson, Kay "Eloise"
Travers, P.L. "Mary Poppins"
Trollope, Anthony 
Wharton, Edith 

Ephron, Nora "I Remember Nothing"

Ephron, Nora "I Remember Nothing. And other reflections"  - 2010

Nora Ephron, may she rest in peace, always found the right words. She already mentioned to the world "I Feel Bad About My Neck", now she admits "I Remember Nothing". Reflections about growing older, losing your health, losing friends, your whole world is changing.

When you are in that position, all that is left some days is your sense of humour. And Nora Ephron helps you with it. She talks about growing up, her parents and her three sisters, about her marriages, relationships, her career as a journalist. All very interesting and completely hilarious.

You can tell from the book that Nora Ephron knew she wouldn't live much longer but she still took it with her usual sense of humour. I love her writings, "When Harry Met Sally" is certainly one of my favourite movies ever and I am going to watch more of her movies and read more of her books. Thank you, Nora Ephron. You have given me a lot.

At the end of the book, Nora Ephron adds two lists: "Things I will not Miss" and "Things I Will Miss". I love that she put "Pride & Prejudice" in the latter.

From the back cover:
"If there is any solace in growing older, it is that you will find yourself guffawing in hysterical recognition at the situations Nora Ephron describes, from the impossibility of trying to remember people's names at parties, to struggling with the new technology. You will find yourself rolling off the sofa snorting with laughter as she recalls with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn't (yet) forgotten, including what it feels like to produce a flop - and you will swallow down a lump in your throat at the poignancy of her insights into the pain of losing friends, and the guilt of separation and divorce.

One thing is for sure, there is nobody else who can put her finger so very precisely, so beguilingly, with so much wisdom and with so much wit, on what we all struggle with as we journey into our later years."

Ephron, Nora "I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman"

Ephron, Nora "I Feel Bad About My Neck And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman" - 2006

Nora Ephron. I have loved and admired her during all her creative years. "When Harry Met Sally" is one of my favourite films ever, I love her sense of humour but I had never read any book by her. So, when she sadly passed away earlier this year, I thought it was time to fill this incredible gap. "I Feel About My Neck", the title itself is very promising already.

There are so many great thoughts in this book. I was particularly struck when Nora Ephron asked whether anybody still reads "The Golden Notebook". Well, we read it in our international book club in January 2009 and most of our younger members did not really like the book very much. We had the feeling that the younger readers couldn’t really follow the reasons this book was written for.

Her book is also full of quotes. If you want a little taster, check out these links:

BrainyQuote
Nora Ephron's 27 Best Quotes On Love, Life, And Death

One of my favourites (from this book):
"Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter."

But it's so much better to read the whole book. Great thoughts, great humour, a lovely memory of a wonderful woman.

See more comments on my ThrowbackThursday post in 2025.

From the back cover:

"Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Heartburn, Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail) turns her sharp wit on to her own life. 

* Never marry a man you wouldn't want to be divorced from 
*If the shoe doesn't fit in the shoe store, it's never going to fit 
*When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you 
*Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for by the age of forty-five
*The empty nest is underrated 
*If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you're ahead of the game."