heartburn. nora ephron. (217)

i requested heartburn because i was under the impression that when harry met sally was originally a book.  the library didn't have it, so i requested heartburn instead.  i later discovered that when harry met sally is simply a screenplay, thanks alot goodreads for getting a girl's hopes up!

anyway, i felt it was about time that i finally read some nora ephron.  i, unfortunately, was not aware of her until she passed away.  i mean i loved the films she wrote and directed, sleepless in seattle, michael, you've got mail, i just didn't know she wrote them.  i also discovered that the female celebrities i adore, adored her, mindy kaling and lena dunham for example.  when she passed away, i remember looking her books up at the library but didn't commit to anything because i wasn't sure where to start.  well two years, later, i finally sorted it out, i started with her first and only novel.

heartburn, was the story of rachel samstat, a cookbook writer and tv personality, which in my head closely resembled rachel ray (including the critiques of not being a real cook).  we meet her at a very low point in her life.  she just discovered that her husband mark, a syndicated columnist, was cheating on her.  rachel was pregnant with their second child and discovered the affair via an inscription her husband's lover, thelma, left in a baby book!  how disgusting right!?!?! the message was horrible and mentioned mark and thelma as a couple singing to rachel and mark's children!!!! seriously some people are disgusting, i would have gone apeshit, if i read that.

the novel then covers rachel struggle with what to do.  does she take mark back and work through it?  or does she leave him.  it sounds heavy, which it is, but the story is actually funny.  as ephron writes via rachel, 

of course i'm writing this later, much much later, and it worries me that i've done what i usually do--hidden the anger, covered the pain, pretended it want there for the sale of the story.

she goes in to explain:

because if i tell the story, i control the version.

because if i tell the storyif i can make you laugh, and i would rather have you laugh at me than feel sorry for me.

because if i tell the story, it doesn't hurt as much.

because if i tell the story, i can get on with it.

this then confirmed my suspensions that heartburn was one of those memoir-ish novel (the second trend of this year of reading).  and sure enough, wikipedia informed me that heartburn was based on ephron's second marriage to carl bernstein.  the cheating bastard!

how horrible that ephron really went through all of this but kudos to her for turning her misfortune into a funny little novel and a movie!!

and can i just add, what a bunch of sluts in washigton d.c. though i am not surprised.  i don't trust politicians.

in the end, rachel made the right choice and leaves mark but not without throwing a pie in his face.  she took her two sons, the second child nathaniel was premature after she fell spying on mark and his lover, to new york to embark on next chapter of life.

this was an enjoyable little read and was even filled with recipes!  i want to try the cheesecake, linguine alla cecca, and potatoes anna.  so look for that happening too!

of course their are hilarous bits, rachel's jewish prince routine, her therapy group being robbed and of course, her starting the thelma has an STD rumor.  

and i loved that rachel's obstetrician helped her realized that she did believe in love.  as her thoughts to herself share:

sometimes i believe that love dies but hope springs eternal.  sometimes i believe that hope died but love springs eternal.  sometimes i believe that send plus guilt equals love, and sometimes i believe that sex plus guilt equals good sex.  sometimes i believe that love is as natural as the tides and sometimes i believe that love is an act of will.  sometimes i beige that some people are better at love than others, and sometimes i believe that everyone is faking it.  sometimes i believe that love is essential, and sometimes i believe that the only reason love is essential is that otherwise you spend all your time looking for it.

this is why ephron's romcoms are the best.  a sweet little book, short and worth a read.  i look forward to reading more of her works and course watching everything she made as well.

one more thing. b.j. novak.

if you are a frequenter of this blog, you know that i am a tad obsessed with mindy kaling.  and of course, one can not be obsessed with mindy kaling without being obsessed with b.j. novak.  (quick random share, if you haven't read this buzzfeed article about their friendship, you should.  get ready to fall in love with the both of them!)  though i have to admit that novak first (or rather finally) caught my eye when ryan started wearing those glasses on the office and i rediscovered him via my love for mindy.  any hoot, regardless, i am a fan of novak and was super excited for his collection of short stories!

so excited that i preordered a hardcover and a digital copy!  i spent the weeks leading up to its release (which was last tuesday) googling to see if novak planned on a book tour.  i don't know if a full tour is planned but discovered he is stopping in LA!  and yes i got tickets!!!  i preordered the book to guarantee tickets but sadly since the bookstore is in pasadena and i had no way of getting the book before his talk, i decided to order it for my kindle so i could be prepared for the talk.  and what was even more amazing was the fact that being on the west coast, i got it at 10 pm, monday night! woo woo!

and with all this effort and excitement over this book, i hate to admit this but it was not worth all of my hoopla.  

i think initially i wanted one more thing to be is everyone hanging out without me? or bossypants, so  i had to remind myself that it was a collection of short stories.  and secondly, novak's book had a bad spot on my reading list.  january unofficially became the month of short stories, and every collection i read was amazing so i mean novak had some tough acts to follow.

i mean all of one more thing's stories weren't bad, it was just that ones that were made me wonder why were they included.  i think the problem with this collection is lack of editing.  too many bad stories were included that should have been cut out. 

also the opening story about the tortoise and the hare definitely did not have any wow power and the only tone it set was a disappointing one.  i have to admit that i was even disappointed by the kellogg story which people kept on mentioning in reviews.  there was an interesting twist in that stoey but nothing incredible that deserved a mentioning.

the stories i wish were edited out were:

"the rematch", "dark matter", "the ambulance driver", "walking on eggshells (or: when i loved tony robbins)", "they kept driving faster and outran the rain", "closure", and "kate moss".  the absence of those stories would have made for a better book.  

i know this sounds like a harsh review but i expected more from novak. also i have to say not every story was bad, there were a handful of gems.

my favorite was "sophia" . it is also the story from which the book gets its title.  sophia is about a sex robot that falls in love with a human.  of course, i thought of spike jonze's her and just like her, through something absurd we discover truths about relationship and human behavior.  i love how sophia explained to the narrator how everything feels infinite but it is finite and we do not commit because we assume there is one more thing out there that is better but there really isn't, it's just that love ironically gives us that feeling.  very deep for a sex robot.

i also enjoyed the nelson mandela roast. when i first read the title, i was like ekkk.  since he past away last year, i wondered if there was a debate about whether or not to include it,  but i am glad they did.  it was very well-written and read just like an actual roast!

i of course loved the missed connection stories because i of course enjoy missed connections.

i also thought the wikipedia brown story was adorable.  i didn't grow up reading encyclopedia brown as a kid.  my friend danny is a fan so it has to be a good series.  i loved how sally was always trying to stop wikipedia brown from distracting them because i always lose hours of my life randomly "researching" on wikipedia.

i also enjoyed "no one goes to heaven to see sam fogelberg" because i love the idea of heaven being non stop concerts!  i can't wait to die if that is the case!!

"chris hansen at the justin bieber concert" was very clever too because people would be suspicious of they saw hansen (from to catch a predator) at a justin bieber concert!

i also enjoyed the "shorter" stories:

(even though i love carrot cake!)

(seriously best love advice.)

(muahahahahahah)

i also enjoyed the new hitler because we do need a new positive one! and that "constructive criticism" kid was a great architect!  

i also enjoyed how punny (funny via puns) novak was in stories like "the market was down", "monster:  the roller coaster", and "the best thing in the world awards".

actually i enjoyed most of the stories but the bad ones just left the bigger impression on me.  and even though one more thing didn't completely knock my socks off, i am still recommending it.  i have to admit that i was disappointed with myself for not finding in funnier.  i mean if mindy and i should bffs, shouldn't i find b.j. hilarious?!?!?  but i mean they aren't always in sync.  oh and i have to admit that this dedication is enough reason to check out the book:

(seriously could they be any cuter?!?!?!?)

but a decent first book.  a nice try but really novak should look into a better editor for his next book.

the casual vacancy. j.k. rowling. audiobook

before j.k. rowlings' "the casual vacancy" came out, i thought i would be super smart and put in an early request for it at the library. i was so excited because i was number 13. i was also excited when it came in. but talk about a letdown when it turns out i requested the audiobook version. (i really feel that this was the error of the library, i don't remember audiobook being on the page i requested. though i have to admit that i have done this before for books for grandma bea.)

i don't drive, so audiobooks have never appealed to me. i can't imagine sitting in a room just listening to words, my mind would wander too much. (how may you asked did i survive lectures in college? well i had to take notes so that stop my mind from wandering). the only way i would be able to listen to an audiobook would be if i had a physical book in front of me so i could follow along.

but since i accidentally checked this version out, i decided to give it a try. the book was narrated by tom hollander, and my what a dreamy voice he has. (i googled and turns out he played mr. collins in recent movie version of "pride and prejudice".) so listening aside it was quite enjoyable.

the story started off interesting. however, i couldn't focus, i kept on thinking about harry potter and even checked my phone a handful of times so i gave up. i really do need the visual word in front of me in order to process it. it's how my brain works. in college my studying consisted of me copying passages from textbooks to help me remember material (and often times could give direct quotes and figures in my essays thanks to it!)

i have not given up completely on audiobooks and will give them another go. my friend lawrence told me that tina fey's audiobook is hilarious. i also want to give mindy kaling's audiobook a try too. but i will check out the physical book along with the audio versions to help me pay attention.