28 February, 2007

Navigating the Big Apple

By Arun Simha

Nora Ephron, the famous writer of films like, ”When Harry met Sally” and the writer-director of films such as ”You’ve got mail” and ”Sleepless in Seattle” writes about turning sixty. It is often said that there exists a very symbiotic relationship between the music of Gershwin and the New York of Woody Allen. Ephron, on the other hand, navigates around the Big Apple with the ease of Tony Bennett and Billy Joel, what with her joyous takes on what women carry in their purses, dealing with hair dye, bad skin, and nails, to ruminative outpourings on the difficulties of buying an apartment in an area that will eventually become fashionable. 

One wishes that there were more than fleeting anecdotes on her troubled relationship with her second ex-husband, the Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein, whose name is never mentioned in the book.  She claims that he was in love with the British ambassador’s wife and that the ambassador and Ms Ephron met to weep in each other’s arms, during which time the former dryly remarked; “What is happening to this country?”

While there are no notable quotes or terribly witty statements to take home, this is certainly a cheery book to read on a short flight. 

Next article: Infinite jest