Imaginary Friends [Paperback]

Nora Ephron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2003

Although Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy probably only met once in their lives, their names will be linked forever in the history of American literary feuds: they were legendary enemies, especially after McCarthy famously announced to the world that every word Hellman wrote was a lie, “including ‘and’ and ‘the.’” The public battle, and the legal squabbling, that ensued ended, unsatisfactorily for all, with Hellman’s death.

In Imaginary Friends, Nora Ephron brilliantly and hilariously resuscitates these two bigger-than-life women to give them a post-mortem second act, and the chance to really air their differences.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A sharp-eyed and even sharper-clawed memory-play. . . . Provides . . . guilty pleasures, keeping the repartee both snappy and snappish.” --The Wall Street Journal

“A feast of wit and language . . . that grows into a hair-pulling duel even Don King could appreciate.” --Los Angeles Times

“Takes the prize for audacity. . . . Two august ladies of letters as you’ve never seen them before. . . . [I]n American theater, everybody loves a bitch with style.” --The New York Times

“A witty, swanky, thoroughly delightful intellectual vaudeville that’s as light as it is sneakily substantial.” --Newsday

“Nora Ephron knows how to refine the passions of Hellman and McCarthy into glittering comedy. . . . [She] also gives her dueling heroines some swipes worthy of Clare Boothe Luce’s long-form catfight, The Women.” –-The New York Sun

From the Inside Flap

Although Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy probably only met once in their lives, their names will be linked forever in the history of American literary feuds: they were legendary enemies, especially after McCarthy famously announced to the world that every word Hellman wrote was a lie, "including ‘and' and ‘the.'" The public battle, and the legal squabbling, that ensued ended, unsatisfactorily for all, with Hellman's death.

In Imaginary Friends, Nora Ephron brilliantly and hilariously resuscitates these two bigger-than-life women to give them a post-mortem second act, and the chance to really air their differences.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400034221
• ISBN-13: 978-1400034222
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.5 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,153 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better when seeing it..., April 13, 2003

By 

S. McCasland "Playwright and Director" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Imaginary Friends (Paperback)

You just don't get the feel of this extraordinary, unusual and unique play of Mary McCarthy and Lillian Hellman - two rival authors during the communist scare - from reading it. I was given the pleasure of seeing this incredible play starring Cherry Jones and Swoozie Kurts in its Broadway run. When the two authors meet in the afterlife, they tell their audience about their lives, beginning with their cleverly told childhoods and slowly moving forward to McCarthy's accusation of being a Communist and ending with Hellman's death before the trial was set by Hellman and McCarthy to discuss McCarthy's lies about Hellman's so-called memoirs. Still clever and still stunning, Ephron's play is an enjoyable read for McCarthy (THE GROUP) and Hellman (THE CHILDREN'S HOUR) fans.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Early Nora Ephron, March 28, 2007

By 

Ann Cassin "buriedalive inbooks" (Gainesville, northern Florida) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imaginary Friends (Paperback)

i love anything written from Nora Ephron's point of view and this book provides some clues to how she got started. It is fun!

2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Imaginary Friends, January 3, 2007

By 

Mary J. Pichette - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imaginary Friends (Paperback)

I didn't care for this book at all. I liked her other books but was disappointed in this one. Mary Pichette