Bookshelf Two-fer! ‘Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May, Hollywood’s Hidden Genius’—and YA novel ‘The Notes’

—Cathy Ritchie

Miss May Does Not Exist: The Life and Work of Elaine May,
Hollywood’s Hidden Genius
by Carrie Courogen (St. Martin’s Press, 2024)

In June 2019, 87-year-old Elaine May became the oldest performer to win a Tony Award--Best Actress in a Play, for her portrayal of a family matriarch facing senility in Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery. By all accounts, she delivered the finest Broadway turn that season, after a 40-year absence from the stage. The audience that night may well have asked themselves “Where has she been?” In her sometimes quirky but always involving biography Miss May Does Not Exist, Carrie Courogen provides some answers. (And, just for the record: Lois Smith is now the oldest Tony Award recipient, having won the Best Featured Actress in a Play prize, at age 91, for 2021’s The Inheritance.)

In the 1950s and 1960s, Mike Nichols and Elaine May were the team for offbeat yet relatable comedy, with sketches including a visit to the dentist; losing a coin to the telephone company; arranging a cut-rate funeral; and embarking on a nervous and sweaty first date. Fortunately, Internet abounds with footage of their classic routines and cuts from their Grammy-winning recordings, including my favorite, “Mother and Son,” where Mother Elaine shames Son Mike for not telephoning her more often, like every day…

Their improvisational roots were nurtured via 1950s Chicago comedy troupes (notably the University of Chicago neighborhood hangout where Nobel Prize winners went to laugh). But Courogen also credits them with creating the art of “improv” as a whole. And Elaine May was always regarded as the true comedic genius of the duo.

When the team disbanded in 1961, Mike Nichols grew into the multi-award-winning go-to director for stage, screen, and television; and while not exactly becoming a recluse, Elaine largely left the public eye to work on her own projects. As Courogen convincingly proves, she never quite disappeared--just tucked herself away for a while.

Courogen seems to divide her book into three portions, beginning with Elaine’s early years, including her co-founding of Chicago’s Compass Players, where her bond with Mike was formed, and which led quickly to cult success and national acclaim.

Almost half the book is then devoted to Elaine’s experiences in Hollywood as actor, director and screenwriter, including the darkly comedic films A New Leaf (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), Mikey and Nicky (1976) and (infamously) 1987’s Ishtar, which brought her a negative blast of public attention..

But behind the scenes, in her unofficial role as “script doctor,” Elaine helped many films become Oscar winners, contributing material to Tootsie and Reds, among others. Later came screenplays of her own again, including Primary Colors, The Birdcage (directed by Mike) and Heaven Can Wait.

Elaine especially loved to edit her films, though she was notorious for shooting far more footage than necessary, at times leading to behind-the-camera conflict. As one observer remarked: “Elaine May is a woman of many words; however, the word ‘cut’ does not happen to be among them.” Courogen‘s copious Hollywood detail verges on the edge of Too Much Information at times, but her enthusiastic approach to Elaine’s life generally saves the day.

The book’s final portion focuses on Elaine’s post-Hollywood life, which has included occasional film acting and authoring one-act plays with varying degrees of success. But then…along came 2019’s The Waverly Gallery, and her triumphant resurfacing.

Now that Courogen has located the elusive, seemingly “non-existent” half of one of entertainment’s greatest comedy teams, let’s sit back and see what 92-year-old Elaine May has in store for us next.

The Notes
by Catherine Con Morse (Crown Publishing, 2025)

So-called “young adult” literature is ostensibly written for teenagers, but I firmly believe that over-age-21 humans can also glean much from “YA” stories. That said, I’m aware that such fiction titles can seem at times to be cut from identical cloth. So, I’m always on the lookout for YA books that are a smidge off the beaten path----like The Notes.

Thanks to the recent Cliburn piano competition, I doubly enjoyed this novel’s uniqueness. It is set in a South Carolina performing arts school where the students have Beethoven on the brain rather than Tik-Tok (no offense). The student body is diverse and dedicated, and the focus is on Claire Wu, a Chinese-American teen pianist who longs to be a professional musician but may need some special guidance.

Claire finds a family of sorts among her fellow students as they all face academic and performance challenges. And then along comes Dr. Li, a renowned teacher/musician who seems almost mysterious to Claire and her other upper-level piano students. Odd events seem to surround the professor, including anonymous notes (hence, the book’s title has multiple significance) and changes in student behavior. The novel becomes a mild thriller of sorts, but not overwhelmingly so.

What made this novel special for me was its physical setting and the protagonists’ unswerving focus. While a whiff of romance does float by, in no way does it threaten the main plot and themes: these folks are first and foremost artists striving for excellence, a refreshing sight indeed. I recommend The Notes for any arts-inclined reader who’s ready to enter a unique world populated by gifted people with a mission.