She made me laugh : my friend Nora Ephron

by Richard M. Cohen

Paper Book, 2016

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Simon & Schuster, [2016]

Description

"Nora Ephron, one of the most famous writers, film makers, and personalities of her time is captured by her long-time and dear friend in a hilarious, blunt, raucous, and poignant recollection of their decades-long friendship. Nora Ephron (1941-2012) was a phenomenal personality, journalist, essayist, novelist, playwright, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and movie director (Sleepless in Seattle; You've Got Mail; When Harry Met Sally; Heartburn; Julie & Julia). She wrote a slew of bestsellers (I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman; I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections; Scribble, Scribble: Notes on the Media; Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women). She was celebrated by Hollywood, embraced by literary New York, and adored by legions of fans throughout the world. Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends--Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington--but the book is not a name-dropping star turn, but an attempt to capture a remarkable woman who meant so much to so many other women.""--… (more)

Rating

½ (7 ratings; 4.6)

User reviews

LibraryThing member TimBazzett
I've loved Nora Ephron from afar for many years, but Richard Cohen's SHE MADE ME LAUGH made me love her even more, and I feel like I know her better too. Remember WHEN HARRY MET SALLY and its central question about whether a man and a woman can ever really be "just friends"? Well, Cohen's tribute
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to his decades-long friend definitely proves that it's possible. The essays here are filled with love and humor, as well as dozens, maybe hundreds even, of famous names. Because Ephron really did seem to know everyone. Her gone-south marriage to Carl Bernstein is covered in heartbreakingly excruciating detail, and so is her novel and film that came out of it, HEARTBURN. And I was pleasantly reminded too of her earliest film, THIS IS MY LIFE, starring Julie Kavner. And her deep friendships with Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Meryl Streep, Mike Nichols and others, some less famous, all get their due. The final few essays here, about Ephron's losing battle with cancer, and how she tried to keep it secret and continued to write and work right up to the end just flat out broke my heart. Richard Cohen is a wonderful, funny, sensitive writer, and this is just a beautiful book. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER
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LibraryThing member carolfoisset
Discovered Nora thru her last few books (I Feel Bad About My Neck, etc) - loved them and started to learn more about her. Found her to be a very interesting person and was shocked (as were many ppl) when she died. This book gave me more background and insight to a very talented and complex person.
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Also, lots of other interesting ppl in this book!
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Language

Physical description

xi, 299 p.; 24 cm

ISBN

9781476796123
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