Friday, December 03, 2010

On location with Nora Ephron - New York Times interview

By Edward Lewine - November 24, 2010
The writer and film director lives with her husband, Nicholas Pileggi, in a “not huge” Upper East Side apartment.

Nora Ephron
Age: 69
Occupation: Writer and director

Next Project: “Who knows?”

Wishes She’d Written: Are you kidding? A lesser sentence of Jane Austen, I wish I had written. I wish I had written “The Great Gatsby.” I read four or five books a year I wish I had written.

Movie, Book or Play? The most satisfying thing is not to have to choose, not to have to rely on any of them for anything — to make a living or anything else.

Perfect Day: Good weather and a walk in the park. I don’t ask for much.

Worst Thing About New York: Bicycle messengers. They scare me. Sometimes, when I am not worrying about other forms of death, I am certain that I am going to be run over by a bicycle messenger.

Hobby: I play craps. About 900 years ago, when I was a columnist at Esquire, they had a sales conference in Paradise Island, the Bahamas, and someone taught me. It is such a great game. I will teach almost anyone how to play craps at a moment’s notice.

Always With Her: I almost always have dice in my purse.

Fantasy Career: I would have liked to have been a singer of popular songs in the ’40s and ’50s. It was the greatest music era ever.

Morning Routine: I wake up sometime between 7 and 8 a.m. We read the papers in bed. Then I spend several hours failing to make a transition from that to a busy workday. I definitely eat breakfast. Then at some point I actually sit down and try to write.

Antiprocrastination Technique: I have on my computer something called Freedom. You put in however many minutes of freedom you would want, and for that period of time your computer does not allow you to go on the Internet.

Workout Routine: I sort of go on the treadmill. That happens a couple of times a week.
Full piece at New York Times

Footnote:
Her latest book, illustrated here, is released by Random House in NZ today. It is asolutely hilarious, a great tonic for anyone feeling blue.

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