Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble

Some Things About Women and Notes on Media

By: Nora Ephron

Narrated by: Kathe Mazur

Two classic collections of Nora Ephron’s uproarious essays—tackling everything from feminism to the media, from politics to beauty products, with her inimitable charm and distinctive wit—now available in one audiobook.

This edition brings together some of Ephron’s most famous writing on a generation of women (and men) who helped shape the way we live now, and on events ranging from the Watergate scandal to the Pillsbury Bake-Off. In these sharp, hilariously entertaining, and vividly observed pieces, Ephron illuminates an era with wicked honesty and insight. From the famous “A Few Words About Breasts” to important pieces on her time working for the New York Post and Gourmet Magazine, these essays show Ephron at her very best.


Permissions:
"To a Too Much Unfortunate Lady", from THE PORTABLE DOROTHY PARKER by Dorothy Parker, edited by Marion Meade, copyright 1928, renewed (c) 1956 by Dorothy Parker; copyright (c) 1973, 2006 by The National Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People. Used by permission of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

Critic reviews

“A woman for all seasons, tender and tough in just the right proportions.” —The New York Times

“A tremendously talented woman from a significant American period. . . . tremendous talent is her forte, her strong suit, her fiendish trump card.” —The Washington Post

“Truly funny and wonderfully wise.” —Chicago Tribune

“Witty whiplash prose—a delight to read.” —Publishers Weekly

“Nora Ephron can write about anything better than anybody else can write about anything.” —The New York Times

“Stylish, opinionated, with a kind of take-no-prisoners fearlessness rooted in both the women’s movement and the equally complex terrain of her own emotions” —Los Angeles Times

“As tart and refreshing as the first gin and tonic of summer.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A brilliant, restless mind.” —Ms.

“Funny, shrewd, devastating.” —Newsweek

“Nora Ephron is, in essence, one of the original bloggers—and if everyone could write like her, what a lovely place the Internet would be. . . . telling stories that were, more often than not, ultimately about herself, and doing so with such warmth, wit and skill that they became universal.” —The Seattle Times

“Always funny.” —Mademoiselle

“Pure delight.” —Playboy

It’s In The Title, Folks!

First off, my review is less about Nora’s biting collection (and truly fascinating snapshot of American pop culture in the 1970s) and more about how “boring” and “dull” the rest of you people found it — especially the one excitedly announcing relief over exchanging it for store credit — which is this: OPEN YOUR EYES AND EARS!

My God. Read the title! PAY ATTENTION! What in the actual noon-day sunshine f&*k did you people expect?!

I swear, it’s like a ham-fisted buffoon buys a box full of LIVE SNAKES and then gets all pissed off (and totally sanctimonious!) when the box arrives, they open it up, the snakes attack, and then literally wastes their dying, final breaths screaming about a refund, shrieking in horror, “Hey! Ow! I didn’t order this! Oww! My face! My neck—ow! What the fff—AAAAGHH!” as the starving serpents bite and strike and squeeze the life from out of this very disappointed customer.

Now, with this hypothetical buffoon’s violent end aside, I’ll concede this is certainly not the most accessible of Nora’s work, however, her striking observations about people and the human condition (not unlike those snakes!) are a prescient, hilarious warning about the place we find ourselves — particularly about gender, politics, and the media; in fact, the chapter “Bob Haldeman & CBS” details the exact moment modern American TV news organizations began paying people to lie on television (or at least the first time they got caught) for something called “Soft News,”which draws a pretty direct, chilling line to the current 24-hour news cycle we’ve grown used to (and, dare I say, “bored” with!) where pundits and politicians alike barking on top of each other, spewing objectively false garbage from opposite sides is the norm — and when you consider all of that? Maybe these vividly honest insights might be of more interest to show us all where we’ve been, and more to the point, where we are going.

She wassuch a brilliant journalist and she enhances her writing with perfect narration.

As most/all the material was from the ‘70s, most readers would be older so the shelf life is more limited.

So natural and inviting

Loved it highly recommend it. Relaxing and entertaining Read this today!!!you will enjoy it too

Two halves do not equal a whole

The first part of the book was compelling and insightful; however, the second was rambling and dull.

A great story to tell

Actually, Nora Ephron has lots of stories. I liked the fist part, Crazy Salad, a lot more then the second one. But it simply because I don’t know much about American journalism. However, the first part was very relatable. Even despite the fact that it was written half a century ago. Some things never change, I guess.