Heartburn [Paperback]

Nora Ephron (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 28, 1996

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.Seven months into her pregnancy, Rachel Samstat discovers that her husband, Mark, is in love with another woman. The fact that the other woman has "a neck as long as an arm and a nose as long as a thumb and you should see her legs" is no consolation. Food sometimes is, though, since Rachel writes cookbooks for a living. And in between trying to win Mark back and loudly wiching him dead, Ephron's irrepressible heroine offers some of her favorite recipes. Heartburn is a sinfully delicious novel, as soul-satisfying as mashed potatoes and as airy as a perfect soufflé.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Great fun. . . . Though Heartburn bristles ferociously with wit, it's not lacking in soul." —The New York Times Book Review"Nora Ephron's first novel is warm, witty and wise." —Harper's Bazaar

About the Author

Nora Ephron was the author of the bestselling I Feel Bad About My Neck as well as Heartburn, Crazy Salad, Wallflower at the Orgy, and Scribble Scribble. She wrote and directed the hit movie Julie & Julia and received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally. . ., Silkwood, and Sleepless in Seattle, which she also directed. Her other credits include the script for the stage hit Love, Loss, and What I Wore with Delia Ephron. She died in 2012.

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 28, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679767959
• ISBN-13: 978-0679767954
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nora Ephron has received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood, and Sleepless in Seattle, which she also directed. She lives in New York City with her husband, writer Nicholas Pileggi.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

175 of 177 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Carl Bernstein gets a taste of his own medicine September 22, 2003

By Peggy Vincent

Format:Paperback

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.

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars When Marriage Gives You Heartburn, Make Blueberry Pies April 14, 2005

By Antoinette Klein TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

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.

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartwarming September 4, 2005

By neverwithoutespresso

Format:Paperback

I don't know about you, but sometimes I stumble upon a book that is a salve to my soul; I am not happy about one thing or another, and I need someone to talk to, talk at, or listen to--I need to look into someone else's life so that I can feel human again and not totally strange and alone.

Nora Ephron's HEARTBURN did that for me, and for that I will put it on my bookshelf, along with the many books that have served the same purpose.

On my second reading I could not remember if the story was based on the author's life. I was afraid that I might not enjoy it if it was pure fiction. I was wrong. The book is a very, very funny satire of the Washington scene, whch has not changed. It is also a tale of real angst and heartbreak.

What is basically a sad story has delicious veins of humor, wistfulness, sadness, prosaic pragmatism, and real recipes marbling through it, all of which magically meld into a satisfying whole: but that is what a work of art can do.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Was "Mark Feldman" inspired by Mark Felt? June 2, 2005

By Mrs. Tarquin Biscuitbarrel

Format:Paperback

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.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny, witty and sharp commentary on modern love. July 25, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

Nora Ephron's "Heartburn," is one of my all time favorite novels. I read it whenever I'm feeling blue, especially if I'm blue about relationships. Ephron writes funny, and does it better than just about anyone, with many dead-on observations about life. She is a true romantic disguised in cynic's clothing, and a food lover to boot. I've adopted several of the recipes that are sprinkled throughout the book, keeping my dogeared copy in the kitchen for years until it became too grease-stained and precious. It reminds me of Laurie Colwin's "Home Cooking," only with more bite. It is true that Ephron tends to recycle some of her best material: readers will find quips from this novel popping up in Ephron's screenplays. No matter; for fans of Ephron, they play just as well the second time around. The movie "Heartburn," didn't do this book justice.