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When Harry Met Sally...

By Tamar Jeffers McDonald
Series: BFI Film Classics
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Brief Description
Groundbreaking in its departure from its predecessors, When Harry Met Sally... (1989) established classic romantic comedy themes and tropes still being employed today. Following the relationship between its title characters, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), and their best friends Jess (Bruno Kirby) and Marie... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2999
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A new edition of Tamar Jeffers McDonald's study of the classic romcom When Harry Met Sally ... (1989) in the BFI Film Classics series.

A new edition of Tamar Jeffers McDonald's study of the classic romcom When Harry Met Sally ... (1989) in the BFI Film Classics series.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Groundbreaking in its departure from its predecessors, When Harry Met Sally... (1989) established classic romantic comedy themes and tropes still being employed today. Following the relationship between its title characters, Harry (Billy Crystal) and Sally (Meg Ryan), and their best friends Jess (Bruno Kirby) and Marie (Carrie Fisher), the film unfolds as a series of episodes, from Harry and Sally's prickly car journey from Chicago to New York City to a momentous encounter on New Year's Eve twelve years later.

Tamar Jeffers McDonald's insightful study explores how writer Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner used structure, filmic devices, music, and classic romcom concepts in innovative new ways. In her afterword to this new edition, she reflects on the movie's continuing influence on the romcom genre, and its relevance in a more turbulent era, where the question at the movie's heart - "Can men and women ever just be friends?" - takes on fresh nuance in the age of #MeToo.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781805750253

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 February 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: BFI Publishing

Edition: 2nd edition

Illustration: 60 colour illustrations

Audience: Tertiary education

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 8.0mm

Width: 134.0mm

Height: 184.0mm

Weight: 167g

Pages: 104

Collections

Arts & Culture Humour Non-Fiction Series: BFI Film Classics Tamar Jeffers McDonald

About the Author

Tamar Jeffers McDonald is Dean of the School of Art and Media & Professor in Film History, University of Brighton, UK. She is the co-editor of Stars, Fan Magazines and Audiences: Desire by Design Hollywood and author of Catwalk: Reading Costume and Transformation in American Film (2010) Doris Day Confidential: Hollywood Sex and Stardom (2013).

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  • When Harry Met Sally ...
    Ground-breaking in its departure from its predecessors, When Harry Met Sally (1989) established classic romantic comedy themes and tropes still being employed today. Placing the film in its historical, social and generic contexts, Tamar Jeffers-McDonald explores how writer Nora Ephron and director Rob Reiner used structure, filmic devices, music and classic romcom concepts in innovative new ways. In her fresh...
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