Nora Ephron’s novel ‘Heartburn’ still scorches 40 years later

The book, a roman à clef about her messy breakup with Carl Bernstein, is a classic of literary revenge

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Staff writer
Nora Ephron at the Barrymore Theater in 2002. Her novel "Heartburn" turns 40 years old in March. (Neville Elder)
7 min

Nora Ephron was a star writer, talk show habitue and media darling when magazines were everything and such a career was possible. This was in the 1960s and ’70s, when she contributed to Esquire and New York. Still, she was not yet famous-famous until 1983, when “Heartburn” happened.

Ephron’s only novel, published in March of that year, quickly became something greater than the slim bagatelle it appears to be. The book is no 179-page weakling. “Heartburn,” a swift bestseller, became tinder for gossip and news coverage, a movie, a moment. To celebrate its milestone and longevity in our culture, Vintage is publishing an anniversary paperback edition next month with a one-page intro by actor and fellow gourmand Stanley Tucci.

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