A bitingly funny, provocative, and revealing look at our foibles, passions, and pasttimes-from one of the most creative minds of our time.

"Nora Ephron can write about anything better than anybody else can write about anything."-The New York Times

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 dressing down the fashion world's most powerful publication to capturing a glimpse of a legendary movie in the making, these timeless pieces tap into our enduring obsessions with celebrity, food, romance, clothes, entertainment, and sex. Whether casting her ingenious eye on renowned director Mike Nichols, Cosmopolitan magazine founder Helen Gurley Brown-or herself, as she chronicles her own beauty makeover-Ephron deftly weaves her journalistic skill with the intimate style of an essayist and the incomparable talent of a great storyteller.