rt- & Fntertainment Girlfriends In his latest bestselling book, West Bloomfield's Jeffrey Zaslow writes about the special 40-year-long bond between 11 childhood friends. Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News effrey Zaslow, Wall Street Journal columnist and best-selling author, has learned a lot about girls and young women by carpooling his three daughters and their friends around West Bloomfield. He has made a point of listening. Zaslow also has learned a lot about women by observing the friendships shared by his wife, Fox 2 News anchor Sherry Margolis, and he has come to believe that women are better than men at connecting emotionally. With that personal background, and ideas stemming from a column on friend- ship, Zaslow, 50, has written a new book, The Girls From Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship (Gotham; $26). He ,,vill discuss it 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, at Borders in Birmingham. The text follows a group of real women who met as youngsters living in Iowa and continued their friendships into their 40s, after moving on to different adulthoods in distant places. j The writing of the book was inter- rupted for The Last Lecture, the bestselling book Zaslow co-authored with Randy Paucsh about the perpetually optimistic professor's battle with terminal pancreatic cancer. Zaslow's next project is an autobiography of Capt. Chesley"Sully" Sullenberger, the commercial pilot who successfully landed his dam- aged jetliner in the Hudson River in January. Zaslow, active at Congregation Shaarey Zedek, discussed his latest release with the JN: IN: Why did you decide to IN: Why did you pick these 11 women IN: Did the women get to approve what as your subjects? JZ: When I went through my e-mails, the one from Jenny (Jennifer Benson Litchman) touched me. She said how much they laughed togeth- er, but she also said how they were rallying around one friend whose daughter had leukemia. I liked that they were in their 40s, an age group that could relate to women from their 20s to 70s. I also liked that one (Jane Gradwohl Nash) was r-r- , Jewish. went into the book? JZ: They did not get final edit, but I let them read it for fact-checking and mean- ingful discussion beforehand. I didn't want to hurt anyone. A S;ory. of Women &- , Forty-Year Friend&hip write this book? JZ: As the father of three daughters, I'm always interested in how they're going to get through life; and I realize that female friendships are going to be vital for them. I don't fully understand them, and that's what made me think to do the book. IN: How do your friendships compare to women's friendships? JZ: Men's relationships with other men don't seem as deep. I couldn't bring myself to be as emotionally giving. I've played poker with guys in Michigan for 15 years, but we don't really share much. We just talk about the cards. Jeffrey Zaslow will discuss his new book and sign copies 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, at Borders, 34300 Woodward, in Birmingham. (248) 203-0005. JN: What did you learn about being Jewish in Ames? JZ: Jane's dad told me that a person really had to decide to be Jewish in that city because there were so few of them. They had to do their own services and become very knowledgeable because of that. Jane didn't feel anybody treated her differently. The girls were curious, and they all came to her confirmation. Jeffrey Zaslow Jews Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News Brother Act Writer-director Rian Johnson had an indie hit in 2005 with Brick, a quirky story about a bright young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who suffers a brain injury in a car accident and, in his mentally impaired state, is lured into aiding a bank robbery. Brick was reminiscent of classic 1940s film noir, while Johnson's new flick, The Brothers Bloom, opening Friday, May 29, is more sunny and comedic. Again, crime is involved, but the rogue char- acters are drawn in a farcical, light way — similar to Wes Anderson's The Royal Tennebaums. Playing the flick's con men broth- ers are Mark Ruffalo and Oscar win- ner Adrien Brody, 36. The Bloom broth- ers are identified as Jewish in the flick, but nothing is really made of that fact. The brothers spe- cialize in swindling Adrien Brody the rich. They hope B10 May 28 • 2009 their last con job will be their greatest — taking a pile from Penelope (Oscar win- ner Rachel Weisz, 39), an eccentric heiress. They con- coct an elaborate Rachel Weisz scheme that has Penelope and the brothers travel around the world and, along the way, they have many thrilling adventures; Brody's charac- ter finds himself falling in love with Penelope and tries, in a way, to warn her off. She doesn't take the hint, and he comes to realize his brother may have set up a very dangerous con indeed. Raimi Redux Director-writer Sam Raimi, 49, is now most famous as the director of the Spider Man trilogy. But his roots are in the hor- ror-film genre (The Sam Raimi Evil Dead), and he returns there with Drag Me to Hell, an original tale of a young woman's quest to break an evil curse. Alison Lohman plays Christine, an ambitious bank loan officer with a charming boyfriend (Justin Long). She hopes to impress her tough boss (David Paymer, 54) by refusing a loan extension to an old woman who literally begs Christine for help. The woman puts a curse on Christine. The curse turns Christine's life into a nightmare, and her only hope is that a gifted psychic can help her. Raimi grew up in Birmingham. His brother Ivan Raimi, 52, an emer- gency room doctor, sometimes contributes to the screenplays of his brother's films and had a hand in writing Drag Me to Hell. By the way, Sam Raimi has been married since 1993 to Gillian Dania Greene, and they have five kids. Gillian is the daughter of the late actor Lorne Greene of Bonanza fame, and the late Nancy Deal Greene, a political activist. Both are buried in a Los Angeles Jewish cemetery, near the grave of Michael Landon, who played Lorne's son on Bonanza. Landon's first wife was Jewish, and he adopted her son from a previous marriage. Sadly, Mark Landon died earlier this month, at age 60. Shecky Returns Comedian Shecky Greene, now 83, was a legend in Las Vegas. He first played the town in 1953; by the early '60s, he was packing them in Shecky and drawing down a Greene six-figure salary. But things went sour for Shecky in the late '70s. He threw most of his money away on gambling, drank too much and , ,vent through a tough divorce. Suffering from depression and anxi- ety attacks, he left Vegas in 1981 and returned for two limited engagements in the 1990s. Now, after getting his bearings again with Florida club dates, he was set to return to Vegas for some gigs this month. Greene says the state of the stock market and his portfolio had a lot to do with his decision to return to a town that has some good — and many bad — memories for him.