Heartburn
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3.9 • 489 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A 40th anniversary reissue of the national bestselling author's hilarious first novel that memorably mixed food, heartbreak, and revenge into a comic masterpiece—now with a new foreword by Stanley Tucci. • "Touching and funny.... Proof that writing well is the best revenge." —Chicago Tribune
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. In this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally... 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 wishing 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Following her very public breakup with journalist Carl Bernstein (she discovered he was having an affair when she was seven months pregnant), Nora Ephron turned pain into comedy. Her searing and hilarious semiautobiographical novel is written in a chatty stream of consciousness that’s full of tangents, asides, and even recipes…like one for a key lime pie to throw in your husband’s face. Ephron balances her deep understanding of heartbreak with a light touch and self-deprecation, showing that even when things are rock-bottom bad, it’s still possible to laugh in the face of adversity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What to say about any audiobook narrated by Meryl Streep? Thirty years after its original publication, Ephron's comic novel has finally come to audio starring the actress who played Rachel Samstat in the 1986 film adaptation. In her the narration, Streep perfectly captures Rachel's self-deprecating humor, resulting in some laugh-out-loud scenes of comic genius. Streep makes us root for Rachel, even as we cringe at her misguided attempts to reconcile with her straying husband. Much of the novel is told through exposition rather than dialogue, so it's imperative that Streep capture Rachel's sense of irony without resorting to bitterness which she does flawlessly. Streep also creates spot-on voices for the cast of mostly upper-crust characters, including dear friend Richard and various Washington swells. A Vintage paperback.
Customer Reviews
See AllGreat Storytelling
This is one of those not-for-everyone books. I think it just clicks for you, or it doesn't. For me, it did. I like the main character, and love her storytelling. She's pregnant. Her husband is in love with another woman who runs in their social circle. She talks about everything and even throws in a few recipes. Everything is told with a spark and often a bit of snark. It kept me interested.
Wonderful, as always
If you’ve had a relationship fail, or not, this is a great read.
Delightful!
A broadly funny relationship romp from the not-so-distant past.