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444th out of 507 books
—
45 voters
Wallflower at the Orgy
by
Nora Ephron
From her Academy Award—nominated screenplays to her bestselling fiction and essays, Nora Ephron is one of America’s most gifted, prolific, and versatile writers. In this classic collection of magazine articles, Ephron does what she does best: embrace American culture with love, cynicism, and unmatched wit. From tracking down the beginnings of the self-help movement to dres...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 26th 2007
by Bantam
(first published 1970)
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I found myself slogging through this book at a snail's pace. Nora Ephron is a fine writer. She does say early on that she's a succinct writer, and then she goes to ramble on more than needed (IMHO) in her essays.
The topics were dated. She had a whole essay on Rod McKuen. I have no idea who he is; he supposedly sang and wrote poetry back in the 1960s as far as I could tell based on the essay. Well, he either had a career that ended in the 1960s or early 1970s, or I live under a rock. It could be...more
The topics were dated. She had a whole essay on Rod McKuen. I have no idea who he is; he supposedly sang and wrote poetry back in the 1960s as far as I could tell based on the essay. Well, he either had a career that ended in the 1960s or early 1970s, or I live under a rock. It could be...more
Sometime last year, I read Nora Ephron's fantastic book Crazy Salad, which was a collection of columns she had written in the 1970s for various magazines. I loved that book and her writing. Even though the essays were dated, I enjoyed her wit and writing style. After all, Ms. Ephron is the genius behind When Harry Met Sally. After finishing Crazy Salad, I went on to read Scribble Scribble (collections of her columns about the media), I Feel Bad About My Neck (more recent book; focusing primarily...more
I suppose in part because of the author’s recent death, I find it difficult to say anything bad about Wallflower at the Orgy, which was a short and predictable collection of classic Ephron ruminations—on fashion, on people, on New York, etc. But even my main critique—that the book is a little too referential to withstand the test of time—turned out to be only partially true.
Helen Gurley Brown, legendary editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and the subject of one of the essays in Wallflower, passed aw...more
Helen Gurley Brown, legendary editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and the subject of one of the essays in Wallflower, passed aw...more
Well, this is probably my least favorite Nora Ephron anything, and it takes a lot for me to say that because I love her and don't want to dislike anything of hers.
Obviously put this on the list after her sad death last year, and waited forever for it from the library. It's a collection of some of her very early essays, written in like 1969ish, and let's just say her style got dramatically pithier and funnier as time wore on. There are certainly interesting things - to hear about the POV of life...more
Obviously put this on the list after her sad death last year, and waited forever for it from the library. It's a collection of some of her very early essays, written in like 1969ish, and let's just say her style got dramatically pithier and funnier as time wore on. There are certainly interesting things - to hear about the POV of life...more
I love Nora Ephron's movies. Her books not as much. But I love the titles - this one and the only other one I read "I Feel Bad About My Neck". The book should officialy be 2 star, but I almost bumped it up a star because certain aspects of it trigger giggles by stirring up memories. The title alone makes me laugh as it is basically the subject of a hilarious conversation I was part of with the Foran/Sawyer clan on one of our vacations (though ours was officially about introverted swingers). Her...more
Nora Ephron is always entertaining, refreshing, and fun. This collection of magazine articles from the 60's manages to dissect a small part of American culture. It struck me that people, movies, designers, and books that were incredibly important during the time of publication are all but forgotten now. The concepts of fame and popularity still ring true, but how interesting to read an author's name that was all the rage....only to go "huh?" and have to utilize Google to do some background resea...more
Why am I so blah on Nora Ephron when everyone else raves about her? Her movies leave me cold, always cute and predictable. Prompted by the outpouring upon her recent death, I decided to check out her early work. I found her writing is crisp and often funny.
But when I look at the dates listed on her magazine articles I think, wow, there were so many things going on then, and she talks about Bill Blass? So many pages for such a disappointing movie as Catch-22?
Yes, I know she was responding to the...more
But when I look at the dates listed on her magazine articles I think, wow, there were so many things going on then, and she talks about Bill Blass? So many pages for such a disappointing movie as Catch-22?
Yes, I know she was responding to the...more
Some of these were really quite wonderful essays, notwithstanding the author’s comments about her former self in the more recent of the two forwards. (She refers to past-Nora as “dippy,” lol. I definitely need to start using that word.) The pieces are… of their time, let’s say, but they remain interesting.
In particular, the Helen Gurley Brown piece is — I don’t even have words for it. (…“mouseburger???”) And it was super weird to read a profile of Ayn Rand from back before her creepy-ass followe...more
In particular, the Helen Gurley Brown piece is — I don’t even have words for it. (…“mouseburger???”) And it was super weird to read a profile of Ayn Rand from back before her creepy-ass followe...more
I knew Nora Ephron as a screenwriter and filmmaker, but I was unaware of her literary output until I read various obituaries following her death earlier this year. Wallflower at the Orgy is the first book of hers I have read and won't be the last.
Firstly, what an awesome title. It is explained in the Introduction (and sort of recanted in the Preface to the 1980 edition) and beautifully captures the theme running through many of the articles, the observation of remarkable people doing wonderful/s...more
Firstly, what an awesome title. It is explained in the Introduction (and sort of recanted in the Preface to the 1980 edition) and beautifully captures the theme running through many of the articles, the observation of remarkable people doing wonderful/s...more
More mannered and dated than Crazy Salad, for me her standout nonfiction collection (I've heard Scribble Scribble highly praised, but it's been out of print for decades, used copies are really expensive, and the recent Kindle "omnibus" is incomplete). Altho the book is supposedly at least somewhat in defense of kitsch, there's no philosophical framework other than "I like fashion and fripperies," which is fine, but kind of shallow given Ephron's other, amazing essays on the Pillsbury Bake-Off an...more
Sep 03, 2007
erin g
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
lovers of out-of-date pop-cultural references?
i am of the opinion (and don't think i'm totally off-base in thinking) that a book that is just sitting there on the new release shelf at the library is either no good at all (because if it was, shouldn't there be a miles-long hold request list for it?) or an undiscovered gem. this book is neither...though it is more gem than worthless.
i picked it up because the title was catchy, i vaguely recognized the author's name from somewhere, it was quite thin, and i needed some books to garnish the stac...more
i picked it up because the title was catchy, i vaguely recognized the author's name from somewhere, it was quite thin, and i needed some books to garnish the stac...more
The topics are a little out-of-date since this is a collection of Nora Ephron's work from the 1960's but it's entertaining to read about once-or-stillfamous people like Arthur Frommer (of the Europe on $5-a-day budget travel guides ...how outdated is that?; Cosmo Editor Helen Gurley Brown (who oddly, died about the same time as Nora); thethen-young director Mike Nichols (directing a haughty Orson Wells in "Catch-22") and the writing of Aryn Rand (which GOP VP candidate Paul Ryan may re-populariz...more
What a delightful book from a delightful writer. Read the intro/prologue deal. Normally that is NEVER TRUE/NEVER A GOOD IDEA since the stories are ruined or someone tells a boring story about wheat in Berlin or how page 68 doesn't read the same when you are not in Madrid in 1930. But this one is great and she talks about working at the NY Post and how the editors changed her writing drastically. Her introductions to her articles are fun and interesting. The article about Mike Nichols is terrific...more
Most of the time, I had no idea what I was reading and I didn't get a lot of the references but I still laughed a lot, so it wasn't exactly a complete waste of time (not sure I'd consider anything written by her a waste of time, considering she wrote the screenplay for Harry Met Sally, so I shouldn't be trusted on this). I love what she wrote about Erich Segal and Cosmopolitan and am currently wondering why/how I suddenly like someone called Mike Nichols.
Collection written in the late '60s. It's a fun time capsule with articles about the food establishment, literary figures, fashion and movies.
My favorite piece is the interview with Mike Nichols who had just directed The Graduate. His great quote, "Let’s say, arbitrarily for a minute, you can divide why people act into three motives: vengefulness, despair, and celebration. Dig?" I have shared and thought about those words every day since reading them.
My favorite piece is the interview with Mike Nichols who had just directed The Graduate. His great quote, "Let’s say, arbitrarily for a minute, you can divide why people act into three motives: vengefulness, despair, and celebration. Dig?" I have shared and thought about those words every day since reading them.
I love Nora Ephron and read this based on the NYTimes book club selection...It's a selection of her short stories...but they are all from the 60's ..so the subject matter is very dated..she talks about the "new menswear designer..Bill Blass"..for example...my favorite story was "The Diary of a Beach Wife"...about the women who spend their summers in the Hamptons when their husbands are are home "working" in the city...still holds up today.
Aug 11, 2012
Conny
added it
Finished Heartburn, her first book and I loved it. So am starting to read this one with much enthusiasm and looking forward to Nora's witty writing.
Latest update, I have just finished this book and found it rather disappointing.
Its boring to hear "goss" about other people that you don't really know. Although the personalities
were supposedly the rich and famous media and key people in America. I was so bored I skim through and was glad to say I've finished.
Latest update, I have just finished this book and found it rather disappointing.
Its boring to hear "goss" about other people that you don't really know. Although the personalities
were supposedly the rich and famous media and key people in America. I was so bored I skim through and was glad to say I've finished.
I disagree with others. I think the topics, even though written in the late 60's or early 70's couldn't be more timely. She writes with clarity and insight. Who knew that in 2012, a candidate for vice-president would resurrect Ayn Rand's objectivist agenda? Who knew that cooking and fashion and criticism would become major industries? Or that we'd still be discussing the role of Helen Gurley Brown 40 years later?
Dec 17, 2012
Teatum
added it
What a delight it was to read a series of Ephron's articles, to see in one space her voice and tone, the way she told stories, and of course, to curse the fact that I couldn't learn more about her research and interview processes. How did she get people to say the things they told her?
Best chapter provided a Q and A with Mike Nichols, of The Graduate fame. I loved being able to see the whole interview, part for part, the conversation flow, the questions, etc. Fabulous read.
Best chapter provided a Q and A with Mike Nichols, of The Graduate fame. I loved being able to see the whole interview, part for part, the conversation flow, the questions, etc. Fabulous read.
Great to get some true flavor of the 70's. Some reviews criticized what Ephron picked to discuss, but I remember this as a wonderfully frivolous time in some ways. Bill Blass was important - if you could afford to think about it. Designer Fashion was New. I love and miss Ephron because she liked people so much, and she could write.
Mar 30, 2013
Dena Kaye
added it
This book was written in the late sixties early seventies.At that time Nora Ephron was a writer in New York.She was there when womens lib was in its most busiest.She knew famous people who were there,and the book has many short stories about her life,the way things were and dealing with many famous people during that time.
Don't be shocked. The title is a reference to what it's like to be a journalist. All the interesting things in the world go on around you, while you merely observe. This was okay. It's a collection of magazine articles Ms. Ephron wrote early in her career. I didn't like it as much as "I Feel Bad About My Neck", but maybe I just prefer her comedy to her entertainment commentary.
This collection of short stories is probably well written given the author, but it was written in the 1970s, about pop culture. Since I wasn't old enough to remember any of the subject matter, I never got into the book. I read about half before I gave up, opting for something that captured my attention.
Though many of the essays are dated and contain cultural references and figures that might be unfamiliar to younger readers, Ephron still has a timelessness in her observations of human nature, her humor, and her appreciation for the absurdities of life, including her own. She never hesitates to joke at her own expense. Since the essays are disconnected, it's a great thing to pick up and put down if you just have snippets of time and can't commit to something longer.
I read this book a couple of decades ago, I think Nora Ephorn's early works will appeal mostly to women who were a part of the women's movement in the 60's and 70's. She is a bright and clever writer with a quick wit, and her books are more entertaining than the movie versions.
thankfully, this book rescued me on a last minute flight for which i brought no entertainment. i found it in the seat pocket in front of me!!
it's a book of essays, and the title is explained (and is an appropriate metaphor) but i still had to hide the book cover from my in-laws!
while the essays tend to become formulaic in their exploration of personalities and industries, nora ephron's writing is consistent and good. my favorite was her article about her editor at cosmopolitan and her makeover a...more
it's a book of essays, and the title is explained (and is an appropriate metaphor) but i still had to hide the book cover from my in-laws!
while the essays tend to become formulaic in their exploration of personalities and industries, nora ephron's writing is consistent and good. my favorite was her article about her editor at cosmopolitan and her makeover a...more
Somehow, I thought this was a new book, but actualy it is a collection of Ephron's journalistic pieces from the late 60s. Once I got over my disappointment, I kind of enjoyed the essays which certainly gave an authentic feel for the times and abounded with Epron's trademark sassiness.
I liked her. I'll miss her.
I liked her. I'll miss her.
I like Nora Ephron, but the subjects of these essays are so dated, it was hard to relate. (It's a collection of her pop culture essays from the 70's -- needless to say, I wasn't alive then, so I don't get ANY of the references.)
I'm on a Nora Ephron kick and found these articles and essays from the late 60's and early 70's fascinating even as I had forgotten some of the things she writes about. Who remembers feminine hygiene sprays? I do, now!
This collection of articles and interviews from the 1960s perfectly captures the journalistic mood of the period and they are a fun read. I lived through the period -- it may not appeal to a younger generation.
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Nora Ephron was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, and blogger.
She was best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle. She sometimes wrote with her sister, Delia Ephron.
More about Nora Ephron...
She was best known for her romantic comedies and is a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay; for Silkwood, When Harry Met Sally... and Sleepless in Seattle. She sometimes wrote with her sister, Delia Ephron.
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“The image of the journalist as wallflower at the orgy has been replaced by the journalist as the life of the party.”
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Jun 28, 2012 06:14pm