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Nora Ephron: A Biography
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About This Book
Nora Ephron was one of the most popular, accomplished, and beloved writers in American journalism and film. Nora 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.
Reviews
"Ephron was a comedic genius who truly found her milieu when she ventured into the world of filmmaking (three of her screenplays were Oscar-nominated)...Life was not all rosy; as with many comedic talents, there was a lingering sadness in Ephron, which Dodge ties to the early loss of her mother who taught her that 'everything is copy'...Doidge's vivacious, enthusiastic biography has serious undertones, much like Ephron herself...It will appeal to Ephron's broad swath of fans."
"Doidge follows Ephron's life and career through Wellesley College, and her rapid rise in New York journalism...In life and in art, Ephron was a control freak...She was obsessive about details on set, like finding the perfect coconut cupcake...She left elaborate instructions for her funeral and memorial...It cost an estimated $100,000 for 800 people and it had to be held at Lincoln Center...These are enjoyable details for Ephron's fans, at whom this book is largely aimed...Still, when I look back, Ephron's humorous advice to women holds up well...There's a silver lining to mortality, she wrote in 2005: 'Not having to worry about your hair anymore is the secret upside of death'...Nobody's perfect, but I want to have what she was having."
"Doidge's book is warm, dutiful, and at times illuminating...It's also, I'm sorry to say, often bland, and deeply in thrall to Ephron mythologies: the plucky gal Friday who worked her way from the Newsweek typing pool to a sprawling apartment in the Apthorp, the jilted wife who got her revenge in the pages of a soapy novel, the woman director holding her own with the big boys...'Why does Nora Ephron still matter?' Doidge writes in the introduction...'Because she gives us hope."
"Although often glossing over this glossiest of lives, Doidge's biography will satisfy true Ephron admirers by revisiting favorite movies, dishing backstory details, and serving up insider peeks at her personal life...Those unfamiliar with Ephron's oeuvre will be enticed to learn more as award-winning journalist Doidge hits the highlights of Ephron's multifaceted career in a biography that is both breezy and substantial."
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