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111 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Carl Bernstein gets a taste of his own medicine, September 22, 2003
At the 7th month of her pregnancy, Nora Ephron learned that her husband had fallen in love with someone else. "The most unfair thing about this whole business," she writes, "is that I can't even date." That line sets the tone for this novel that Ephron based on her own marriage breakup. A court case resulted from the publication of this book, which tells you just how funny and potentially devastating it is. Her ex got a court order that she could never again write about him or their children. In the novel, instead of being a journalist, essayist, and humorist, the protagonist is a cookbook writer, so there are plenty of recipes sprinkled throughout. Published in 1983, Heartburn marked a turning point not only in Ephron's personal life but also in her writing career as she immediately gained entry into the film world as a writer, director, and producer. She wrote the screenplay for the movie based on this book - but don't see it. It's too angry; all the hilarity and subtle humor and caustic asides are missing. I own a 1st edition of this book, and I'm NEVER selling it.
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47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
When Marriage Gives You Heartburn, Make Blueberry Pies, April 14, 2005
If I had it to do over again, I would have made a different kind of pie. The pie I threw at Mark made a terrific mess, but a blueberry pie would have been even better, since it would have permanently ruined his new blazer.......so Rachel Samstat muses on her marriage to Mark Feldman.
Nora Ephron's thinly disguised account of her marriage to famed Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein is laugh-out-loud funny in parts, though if you're looking for advice on how to save your marriage, the aforementioned tidbit is typical of the advice you'll get.
Rachel is seven months pregnant with her second child when she learns her husband is not only having an affair with a mutual acquaintance, but has fallen in love with her. This indignity is compounded because, due to Rachel's advanced preganancy, she can't even date. She does manage one innocent flirtation on the subway which, in true slapstick fashion, leads to armed robbery. Ah, the perils of life flitting between New York and Washington.
Short and savvy, this contemporary 80's novel is peppered with recipes since Rachel is a cookbook editor and host of her own cooking show. A collapsing marriage doesn't seem suitable for high-level comedy, but Nora Ephron makes it work and will have you laughing all the way to the bitter end.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was "Mark Feldman" inspired by Mark Felt?, June 2, 2005
Every year or so I re-read "Heartburn," one of my favorite novels of all time. It is fall-on-the-floor-funny, and possibly the best and most memorable form of revenge that a spurned wife ever had.
Today's re-reading of "Heartburn" was inspired by the revelation that Mark Felt is the real name of Deep Throat, the former FBI mole who fed Watergate information to Ephron's former husband, Carl Bernstein. In this roman a clef, the chatacter based on cheating-husband Bernstein is called "Mark Feldman." Today I read Ephron's admission, in the Huffington Post blog, that living with the knowledge of Deep Throat's true identity was a "very heavy burden."
So, was her estranged husband's character name inspired consciously by Deep Throat's name, or subconsciously?
I don't really need an answer to that question. However, it does prove that the novels we love are gifts that keep on giving. Thanks, Nora. Thanks, Mr. Felt--for everything.
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