"With her rigorous, authentic, and insightful biography of Nora Ephron, Kristin Doidge has gotten us all an invitation to sit around that table--to spend time with Nora and be forever changed by the encounter. This is a brilliant book."--Caroline Aaron, actress <p/> Nora Ephron was one of the most popular, accomplished, and beloved writers in American journalism and film. <p/>Nora Ephron: A Biography is the first comprehensive portrait of the Manhattan-born girl who forged a path of her own, earning accolades and adoration from critics and fans alike. Author Kristin Marguerite Doidge explores the tremendous successes and disappointing failures Ephron sustained in her career as a popular essayist turned screenwriter turned film director. She redefined the modern rom-com genre with bestselling books such as Heartburn and hit movies including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, and Julie & Julia. Doidge also examines the private life Ephron tried to keep in balance with her insatiable ambition. <p/> Based on rare archival research and numerous interviews with some of Ephron's closest friends, collaborators, and award-winning colleagues including actors Tom Hanks and Caroline Aaron, comedian Martin Short, composer George Fenton, and lifelong friends from Wellesley to New York to Hollywood--as well as interviews Ephron herself gave throughout her career--award-winning journalist and cultural critic Doidge has written a captivating story of the life of a creative writer whose passion for the perfect one-liner and ferocious drive to succeed revolutionized journalism, comedy, and film. <p/>The first in-depth biography to explore the complex themes that ran through Ephron's work and to examine why so many of them still grab our attention today.