The first illustrated monograph on writer, journalist, and director Nora Ephron, the visionary behind When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and You’ve Got Mail. “A visual celebration of the writer-director’s distinctive approach to world-building.” (Vanity Fair)
Nora Ephron at the Movies offers an unfiltered look at Ephron as a champion of the rom-com and as a feminist Hollywood trailblazer. It explores her life and work by pairing detailed criticism with exclusive interviews with Ephron’s key collaborators, including Andie MacDowell and Jenn Kaytin Robinson, to add color and nuance to her life and legacy.
With her singular voice, Nora Ephron flourished as a dominant force in the entertainment industry, focusing on the idiosyncrasies of romance that were universally relatable.
The women in her stories paralleled reality—the veil was lifted, the glossy sheen removed. Her protagonists share an unwavering sense of humor about life’s mishaps, and they never take themselves too seriously—like Julie trying to master the art of cooking lobsters in Julie & Julia, Sally’s theatrical fake orgasm in Katz’s deli in When Harry Met Sally, or Rachel perfecting a key lime pie only to throw it in her cheating husband’s face in Heartburn.
Through her keenly self-aware humor and semi-autobiographical stories, Ephron left behind a groundbreaking legacy as a beloved journalist, essayist, screenwriter, author, producer, director, and feminist who delivered stories of resilience embedded in sharp wit and upper-crust landscapes. Through that lens, she became emblematic of rom-coms, shifting and redefining conversations around the complexities of relationships and the women who have them.
Praise
“Ilana Kaplan would make Nora Ephron proud with this smart, elegant, and entertaining journey through the filmmaker’s cinematic universe. I savored every page, and the Ephron fandom will too. I, for one, plan on displaying the book in my cozy living room for #MegRyanFall and the foreseeable future. It makes me want to buy school supplies. And toss on Ryan’s maroon sweater in When Harry Met Sally. To reference Frank Navasky: Thank you, Ilana, for writing a book I’ll cherish forever.”
—Erin Carlson, author of I’ll Have What She’s Having and No Crying in Baseball
“Taking on the legacy of Nora Ephron—the woman, the myth, the legend—is no easy task, but Ilana has managed to do so gracefully by assessing Ephron’s lasting impact in all of its complicated beauty in this visually-stunning book. To see ourselves through Nora’s most famous works often reminds us of how human and flawed we actually are. And that’s a wonderful thing.”
—Kristin Marguerite Doidge, author of Nora Ephron: A Biography and Woman on Top: Becoming Greta Gerwi
"A comprehensive guide to the queen of the modern rom-com (and so much more!), Nora Ephron at the Movies is both thought-provoking and a joy to read. Writing with affection, insight, and wit, Ilana Kaplan has crafted a beautiful tribute to Ephron's remarkable life and work."
—Scott Meslow, author of From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (And Rise Again) of the Romantic
"Ilana Kaplan is a true Nora Ephron scholar; her incisive critical mind and quick wit on the page make her an ideal match for her subject. Kaplan understands that what made Ephron’s work singular was her emphasis on verbal precision, and she has written a book that gets precisely to the heart of why Ephron’s oeuvre continues to charm, delight, and surprise us. This book is as sharp as a bouquet of pencils!”
—Rachel Syme, writer for The New Yorker and author of Syme’s Letter Writer (forthcoming) and Magpie (
