This and That: Humor Edition
Whiplash

Mini-book reviews: This is the story of a Happy Marriage, The Most of Nora Ephron

Probably you've never scrolled dowm the right-hand side of this column; if you had, you'd have seen the list there of the 10 most recent books I read that I felt were worth talking about. Almost nothing ever appears there that I don't feel is a five-star read. I just added two recently:

  • Ann Patchett: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

    Ann Patchett: This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
    David Sedaris liked this book so much her arranged for Moe's Books of Berkeley to sell it in the lobby after his reading at Zellerbach Hall last year. I can see why; Pratchett is an interesting and able essayist. I haven't read her fiction, but if it is as good as her essays, it is good indeed. As a recently bereaved cat owner, I couldn't read her essay on the death of her dog, but all the others were fine. (*****)

  • Nora Ephron: The Most of Nora Ephron
    I have always been a big fan of Nora Ephron, so I was enraptured with this omnibus, which includes her novel, her Harry met Sally screenplay and many of her essays, some of them previously uncorrected. They say you should never meet the authors you love, but I think I'd have enjoyed her, even if she was telling me to "get over it." (*****)