About book Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women (Modern Library Humor And Wit) (2000)
I just finished “Nixonland” and needed a softer view of the early 1970s, though I don’t think that’s what I got. I believe that Ephron places herself in the tradition of Dorothy Parker, and I am so far convinced that this is deserved. However, where Parker’s era compelled her to write in a prose that is artful but removed, Ephron is able to write directly of her experiences. Perhaps this annoys her detractors, who wish that she were more like Parker. She does get in some good zingers, though. In reviewing a non-fiction exposé, “The Girls in the Office” she states that perhaps the only way to faithfully portray the lives of young working women in New York is as a B-novel, slightly sensational and vaguely condescending. She writes extensively about her ambivalence about certain aspects of the feminist movement. She states that Moses kept the Hebrews wandering for 40 years knowing that no one raised in slavery would be able to found a nation, and she relates this to the women of her generation. Her self-loathing about Wellesley 10-year reunion is quite moving as she concludes that searching and independent thought was bred out of her classmates at this most prestigious school. She provides terrific coverage of the 1972 Democratic National Convention in Miami, and observes the attempts of Betty Friedan to remain relevant and Gloria Steinem’s quest to be taken seriously as a leader. Ephron sees “Deep Throat” one night because it was the only film that no one in her party had seen, and she feeling upset by certain acts and implications in the film, but even more disturbed that all of the men in her group told her not to take it so seriously, that it was only a movie. She describes a consciousness raising group in which women were to look into a vagina, the better to know this part of the body which, Ephron notes in several essays, has been demonized throughout history. She writes of her belief in the idea of consciousness raising groups, and that she has heard about groups elsewhere accomplished their stated goals, but because of the self-disclosure encouraged by such groups, her own group descended into a soap opera of its members talking about their problems with their men. The book ends circa 1973, and is preoccupied with the women surrounding Nixon’s fall due to Watergate: dutiful daughter Julie Nixon Eisenhouer, loyal secretary Rose Mary Woods, and Martha Mitchell, the unstable but truth-telling wife of Nixon’s 1972 campaign director. These profiles examine the supportive (or not) roles of women near powerful men, and how they may feel compelled (or not) to present themselves unflatteringly to protect said men. I also enjoyed a review of the autobiography of Barbara Howar, a 1960s D.C. socialite who may have lived before her time, as her rebellious nature lacked direction or intent. I have read reviews of "Crazy Salad" that claim many of these topics are no longer relevant, or that they are primarily useful as a window into the early 1970s. I do concede that they are a great view into that era, but if you think that any of the issues discussed here have been resolved, you have not been paying attention.
So, important to note that this particular edition includes much of what was originally published in Scribble, Scribble. I did not know this when I got my copy and since copies of Scribble, Scribble are very hard to come by, I was pretty pleased. (This is also true of the Modern Library edition of Crazy Salad and the Vintage eBook edition that was just released; they all have the full Crazy Salad + 8 essays from Scribble, Scribble + another piece.) [11/7/12, ETA: Vintage has since published a paperback edition of Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble; it includes the full text of both books.]I spent a pretty excellent three weeks carrying this around, dipping in and out. Lots of topics covered, many of which are somehow both completely timeless and completely dated (for instance, an essay about the creation/marketing of a Special Deodorant For Your Lady Areas could be about any lady-focused product, at any time). Not everything has aged as well (some of the newsier essays required some personal footnoting, and Ephron's take on the women's movement is occasionally baffling) but Ephron always made me feel as though I knew what was going on, even when I totally didn't. She writes from a place of bemusement and authority, of someone who knows better but is incredibly interested to know why everyone else disagrees. & a special shout-out to her essay about Dorothy Schiff, because it is so, so great.Most/best of all, you get a real sense of Ephron's life as a reporter, of the care and research that she applied to her writing, and of her remarkably ability to make us outsiders feel like incredibly well-read outsiders.
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Remembering the times, incidents, people, and events these newspaper columns are about was nostalgic and it was interesting to learning some of the things that went on behind the events. But...it didn't have all the luster and shine I expected of Nora Ephron because it was too focused, too set, too much 1972 and '73. Technically this isn't a legitimate complaint because that's when and where they were written. So, maybe it's I can take only so much of 1972 and '73 right before I go to sleep at 2am. The point was reached around the time Gloria Steinem was crying her eyes out while walking down the street in Miami Beach. Nora was trying to figure out what she was so upset about because it was only the Democratic Convention after McGovern had sold out the Women's Movement. Apparently, Gloria took it personally, while Nora thought the whole thing was "just politics."
—Lc Phillips
When I saw that Nora Ephron had died, I searched for anything she had written that I might have missed. This one is from the early 70's, and man, have things changed in the years since. Nora was married to Carl Bernstein back in the Watergate and Women's Lib days, and this is a collection of essays she wrote for contemporary magazines during that time. Enlightening, but it made me thankful that we've come a long way in the past 40 years. Her story on the Pillsbury Bake Off, circa 1972, almost makes you want to cry for those ladies who's entire existence centered on creating recipes and entering contests. Hearing about Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm and Gloria Steinem brought a few remembrances from my teenage "activist" leaning days. Since this book, Nora wrote Sleepless in Seattle and other funny movies, but my favorite book of hers, EVER, is "I Feel Bad About My Neck." It's a hilarious anthem for 50-year-old women!
—Nancy Kennedy
An interesting collection of (mostly dated) essays from 1972-1974. Some revealing anecdotes about the women’s liberation movement and its struggles, the politics of education at an exclusive female college (Wellesley), some personal essays about body image (breasts, or not having any), some political ones (Nixon-era), the porn industry (Deep Throat), - or was that another Nixon story?, some stories about people in the entertainment news, whom I never heard about, feminine hygiene products, etc. I had no idea male-female discrimination had been that blatant (as in the essay about the first female umpire, who gave up because of the harassment she had been subjected to, etc.), and reading this book shows that there has been some improvement, although discrimination is now ever more insidious.
—Pascale
