Nora Ephron

I didn't really know who Nora Ephron was until she died (though I'd seen most of her movies), and I've been catching up since then. Today, I read Lena Dunham's 2012 essay, Seeing Nora Everywhere, in the New Yorker. Wow.

I loved her propensity for asking a question when she already knew the correct answer but wanted to let you make a tiny fool of yourself. The best example of this was when we were discussing a popular book and she earnestly asked, “Did you think that was a good book?” I said, “Well, yes,” before Nora came back, sharply, with “It wasn’t.” I later told this story onstage with her, and she laughed as though she knew it was one of her most awesome tricks.