Hanging Up [Paperback]

Delia Ephron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 1996

"HILARIOUS. . . A CHARMING, ENTERTAINING READ."
--Los Angeles Times
"WONDERFUL. . . Eve Mozell is having a lousy day, and she hasn't even gotten past breakfast yet. Her father, a senile ex-alcoholic whose idea of a good joke is goosing his woman doctor, started phoning Eve at 6 a.m. Her teenage son, who alternately ignores and lectures her, is off to a séance. ('You know, Mom, all doors are entrances. Think about it.') And a quick glance in the mirror turns out to be a big mistake. Oh, God, is that my face? . . . I need a vacation. No. This is just me. Me at forty-four. . . . What a terrific debut."
--Newsweek
"TRUE AND TOUCHING."
--People
"Delia Ephron is blessed with the driest of wits, the tenderest of hearts, and an uncanny ear for the way people really talk. Do yourself a favor and curl up with Hanging Up--but unplug the phone first."
--Armistead Maupin
"MOVING AND FUNNY. . . In some ways, Hanging Up is a funhouse version of King Lear."
--Newsday

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The telephone plays an integral part in screenwriter and nonfiction author Ephron's (How to Eat Like a Child) humorous, if somewhat uncomfortable, look at the senility and death of a parent. Narrator Eve Mozell loves to chat on the phone, playing out nearly all of her relationships by talking into a plastic mouthpiece. Now 44 but still in the role of the unremarkable, overcompensating middle daughter, Eve finds the care of her elderly, alcoholic father foisted upon her by her sisters Georgia, an overbearing magazine editor, and Madeline, a dippy soap opera actress. With little support from either her work-absorbed husband, a public radio commentator, or her teenaged son, Eve struggles to understand the Mozell family neuroses. Flashbacks highlight her parents' scotch-soaked divorce, her mother's subsequent abandonment of the family and her father's descent into alcoholism and general obnoxiousness. Appropriately, a telephone relationship with a stranger helps Eve come to terms with the simultaneous love and disgust she feels for her father. All the phone talk makes the narrative dialogue-heavy, and most of Ephron's characters are gratingly self-absorbed. However, Eve's wry humor and gentle tolerance for these eccentrics and the foibles of life leaven the proceedings nicely, rendering this a novel few readers will hang up on.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Ephron, a successful children's book author who has written and/or produced some of her sister Nora's films, tackles a tough subject in her first adult novel: a dysfunctional family dealing with death. Eve Mozell, 44, is the middle sister who winds up her father's caregiver; her older sister Georgia edits a women's magazine that bears her name in New York; and younger sister Maddy is a semisuccessful actress on Hollywood soaps. Mom walked out when Eve was in college; Dad, whose career writing sitcoms was dying even then, is an alcoholic manic depressive who, by the 1990s, suffers from what his doctor calls "the dwindles." Telephone lines bind this family and deliver its joys and woes; each ring produces mixed emotions--and antic plot elements, including the party Eve's event planning firm, No Surprises, arranges for several hundred otolaryngologists at the Nixon Library and the unexpected wisdom and support from the Iranian doctor whose car Eve's son damages (and from the doctor's quite remarkable mother). A funny, touching, often penetrating exploration of individual and family strengths and vulnerabilities. Mary Carroll --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345404440
• ISBN-13: 978-0345404442
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A light, entertaining read, January 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hanging Up (Paperback)

I was looking for a light-hearted page turner and found one in Hanging Up. Colorful characters and the split-chronology device kept what could have been a dull storyline alive. These three sisters seemed very human in their struggle to balance independent lives with responsibility and in finding compassion for their difficult father. Sure, it's not literature and definitely has a Meg Ryan-movie flavor, but this is a satisfying read if you're looking for a warm, contemporary story and a few good chuckles.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Close to Home, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hanging Up (Paperback)

I have never read a novel that triggered so many emotions inside of me. I felt that someone had peeked into my life. I am the oldest of four sisters and I can only say that Ms. Ephron's family and mine are one in the same. I cannot tell you how emotionally vunerable I am at this time. I watched the movie last night and I cannot stop crying. Needless to say I have not learned to hang up or to disconnect. Our nightmare and frantic phonecalls are still going on. Our Dad is still with us (mimi strokes and divorce and crying for a very distant mother to each of us on a daily basis). This is actually more of a plea than a review. I felt so connected with this family. Is there somehow that I could actually let the author know how much the novel meant to me?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes, It Is Necessary To Disconnect...., June 22, 2002

By 

Josh (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hanging Up (Mass Market Paperback)

This has to be one of the best books I've ever read. I've read it many times and the quality of Delia's writing is superb. From Eve's troubles with her father, to Georgia's nationally known magazine, to Maddy's consistent wrong choices, this is a book full of non-stop laughter and fun. Sometimes we get so caught up in work, that we're always on the phone and don't take the time to realize that we're missing the most important things in our lives. Sometimes, it is necessary to disconnect. This book has a great moral and you won't be able to put it down. Don't forget to check out the movie (Meg Ryan, Diane Keaton, Lisa Kudrow, Walter Matthau). It's one of the best!