Sister Mother Husband Dog

June 24, 2013
“Life is such a jumble,” writes Ephron in one of many blunt essays from her fourth collection, a phrase that aptly describes these reflections on the monumental and the mundane. The lighter fare—including a spirited poem about bad hair days and a charming appreciation of her dog, a small white Havanese named Honey—plays second fiddle to the real drama: her relationship with sister Nora and their partnership on projects such as the film You’ve Got Mail and the off-Broadway hit Love, Loss, and What I Wore. Many readers will be curious about Delia’s take on her more famous sister, who was “ruthless as a writer” and the model for a “wildly opinionated, wildly successful, self-centered older sister” in her novel Hanging Up. The most insightful pieces, however, focus on Delia’s personal transformation: after her “walkabout” 20s, she became a novelist and screenwriter in a happy second marriage. The wisdom in these essays is gentler, and the jokes are warmer, balancing the brittle humor Delia succumbs to when describing Nora’s power plays and their mother’s dictums on how to be an Ephron (i.e., a writer who worships success). Although many details will be familiar to Delia’s fans, the mix here mirrors the comforting jumble of real life, with jewels, junk, and everything else thrown in, creating a down-to-earth intimacy that is classic Ephron.

August 15, 2013
When Ephron's humorous essay "How To Eat Like a Child" appeared in the New York Times Magazine, her first "big success," she knew she had found her calling. In this new collection of essays, she displays that sharply funny and compassionate voice. The author, who co-wrote the screenplay You've Got Mail and the play Love, Loss, and What I Wore with her sister Nora, has written novels for adults and teenagers (The Lion Is In, 2012) and essay collections (Funny Sauce, 1986). Here, her keen observations about family, friends, work and life's small indignities and deep sorrows leave readers laughing out loud one moment and tearing up the next. In her loving essay "Losing Nora," she grapples with grief, the complexities of sisterly love and sibling rivalry while paying tribute to her brilliant, fun-loving, tough-minded sister, who died in 2012. "Am I Jewish Enough?" describes the Ephron "sect of writers." Her parents were Hollywood screenwriters, and all three of her sisters became authors. In their religion, "Laughter was the point, not prayer, and the blessing, 'That's a great line, write it down.' " In "Why I Can't Write About My Mother," Ephron reveals her madcap family's dark side. Her parents took to alcohol like Nick and Nora Charles, and nights were often filled with "drunken brawls and raging fights." In this alcoholic haze, her emotionally distant mother became even more elusive. Ephron knows a few things about her--e.g., she abhorred conformity and insisted her daughters would have careers--but she can never break through the surface of this accomplished woman who wore one-liners like armor. A witty and often profound look at human behavior and all its absurdities, contradictions, obsessions and phobias.

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