Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Vintage (2011), Edition: Reprint, 160 pages
Description
Fiction. Literature. HTML:Nora Ephron returns with her first book since the astounding success of I Feel Bad About My Neck, taking a cool, hard, hilarious look at the past, the present, and the future, bemoaning the vicissitudes of modern life, and recalling with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn’t (yet) forgotten. Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no explaining the stock market but people try”; “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own”; “Cary Grant was Jewish”; “Men cheat”); reveals the alarming evolution, a decade after she wrote and directed You’ve Got Mail, of her relationship with her in-box (“The Six Stages of E-Mail”); and asks the age-old question, which came first, the chicken soup or the cold? All the while, she gives candid, edgy voice to everything women who have reached a certain age have been thinking . . . but rarely acknowledging. Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true—and could have come only from Nora Ephron—I Remember Nothing is pure joy.… (more)
Media reviews
There’s plenty of Ephron’s usual wit in these reminiscences, which zip about in subject from her career and famous friends to her loathing for egg white omelettes and all they represent. But beneath the jaunty cover and droll, self-conscious title lies an unflinching examination of what it
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feels like to grow old and watch your friends die. Show Less
Reading this book is a little like being sat down by an older, wiser friend, who hands you a large gin and tonic and says: "Now listen carefully, because I haven't got much time." There are chapters called "Flops" (about her movies), "The Six Stages of Email" (v funny, lol) and "My Life as a Meat
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Loaf", about the time when Graydon Carter set up a restaurant and named the dish after her. "I'd hoped for a dance step, or a pair of pants," she reflects. "But I was older now, and I was willing to settle for a meat loaf." There are several short chapters each beginning "I Just Want To Say ...", about the egg-white omelette, Teflon, chicken soup, and "No, I do not want another bottle of Pellegrino". These are not meant to be confused with "something actually important, like the war in Afghanistan", but they also really must be stopped. Show Less
Yet her once razor-sharp wit now strays into grumpy Andy Rooney territory. Ephron is irascible and shallow, and occasionally verges on self-parody when she dedicates an entire essay to an eponymous meat loaf.
Much of Ephron’s petulant kvetching about expensive restaurants and inconsiderate
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friends appears Marie Antoinette-ish. I also found it hard to swallow Ephron’s gripes about annoying e-mail and erratic Internet experts while she consulted Google to bolster her ailing memory. Show Less
“I Remember Nothing” is fluffy and companionable, a nifty airport read from a writer capable of much, much more.
User reviews
LibraryThing member justagirlwithabook
Tags: Nonfiction, Audiobook, Nora Ephron, Reflections, Essays, Growing Older
Overview: This is another classic Nora Ephron piece in which she reflects on different aspects of her life, things that drive her crazy, the struggles of growing older, and a few other small rants that are worth listening
Highlights: I listened to this on audio read by her, so it was a gem. She’s so witty and incredibly intelligent and I’m more obsessed with her than I was before. There were parts that made me laugh too hard, especially her little rants on not remembering things and people that drive her absolutely crazy. She’s so raw and real about it, and I don’t know what it says about me, a 30-something, that I relate to her so well (her 69-year-old self at the time she wrote this).
Pre-Requisites: Just an appreciation for Nora Ephron, and if you don’t have that yet when you pick up the book, you will by the time you’re finished!
If you like: dry wit and humor, Nora Ephron, short pieces/reflections, reminiscing on the past, food, real women, quick reads
Overview: This is another classic Nora Ephron piece in which she reflects on different aspects of her life, things that drive her crazy, the struggles of growing older, and a few other small rants that are worth listening
Show More
to.Highlights: I listened to this on audio read by her, so it was a gem. She’s so witty and incredibly intelligent and I’m more obsessed with her than I was before. There were parts that made me laugh too hard, especially her little rants on not remembering things and people that drive her absolutely crazy. She’s so raw and real about it, and I don’t know what it says about me, a 30-something, that I relate to her so well (her 69-year-old self at the time she wrote this).
Pre-Requisites: Just an appreciation for Nora Ephron, and if you don’t have that yet when you pick up the book, you will by the time you’re finished!
If you like: dry wit and humor, Nora Ephron, short pieces/reflections, reminiscing on the past, food, real women, quick reads
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LibraryThing member Meggo
I like Ephron's style of storytelling - crisp and light, irreverent and sassy. This is another volume of autobiographical sketches from her life, told in a snappy way that made for a quick read. Entertaining, and perfect weekend reading. As I shelved this I noted that Ephron's books tend to be of a
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size - slim - that makes for a very fast read. Show Less
LibraryThing member realbigcat
For all the hype on this book I expected a little more. Yes, there are some interesting and humorus stories but there is also a lot of boring generic comments and stories that are just plain boring. It reminds me of a memoir that just didn't have enough good material to complete so bits and pieces
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were put together to come up with a vey short book. Show Less
LibraryThing member SherylHendrix
An easy breezy book where Ephron shares her philosophy of life on a potpourri of various topics - a fun read.
LibraryThing member detailmuse
A collection of essays, thoughts and lists, most or all previously published on The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The New Yorker and Vogue. It’s very light -- 135 pages, lots of white space -- but I enjoyed Ephron’s explorations of journalism, writing, her mother and her marriages in the
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longer essays. Show Less
LibraryThing member asomers
Ms. Ephron's writing is quirky and clever. Her insights are always on the mark. I enjoyed learning more about her life. That being said I enjoyed " I Feel Bad About My Neck" more than this book. That's probably because there was so much more that I could relate to in that book.
LibraryThing member triscuit
This is a wonderful, amusing read for women of a certain age. And who knows, perhaps others. It brings to mind a quote from Philp Pullman's recent impassioned speech in defence of public libraries facing cuts in Britain and of books "where your own emotions and ideas are given back to you
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clarified, magnified, purified, valued". Show Less
LibraryThing member fglass
Funny and touching. She's bang on about losing your memory.
LibraryThing member mahallett
i really liked this maybe because i'm old. funny, sad, true, short.
LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
Having read a couple other books by her, I wanted to read this. It was sad because I know that she wrote this while she was dying. Still it had her usual humor and although not all of the essays worked, it was worthwhile as a short quick read. For those who haven't read her other essays I strongly
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suggest them. We need more clever humorous writers to help bring a smile and a laugh to our daily lives. Nothing wrong with that. Show Less
LibraryThing member Freilin
Nora Ephron's book insightfully describes the challenges of growing old. It seemed honest and a bit melancholy and a continuation of "I Feel Bad About My Neck".
LibraryThing member Periodista
Ephron has exhausted readers' patience with this phony book. What were the editor and publisher thinking? Was there an editor?
I borrowed this from the library, where it was on display, and I'm still embarrassed to say I read most of it. It must have taken me 30 minutes.
The essay on her start in
Was she ever really a journalist? That is, was she ever capable of writing about something other than herself? The evidence here is not pretty.
I borrowed this from the library, where it was on display, and I'm still embarrassed to say I read most of it. It must have taken me 30 minutes.
The essay on her start in
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journalism is well written and witty, but haven't I read it before in one of her oldest books? Perhaps I'm thinking of a profile of the female publisher of the NY Post.Was she ever really a journalist? That is, was she ever capable of writing about something other than herself? The evidence here is not pretty.
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LibraryThing member karenmerguerian
There's one really good essay in this--the one about how she falls in love with journalism. All the rest seemed kind of throwaway to me, I didn't feel she had anything new to say.
LibraryThing member kitber
Well worth reading, funny, and true to life.
LibraryThing member rdh123
did not like this book
LibraryThing member dd196406
Cute, witty collection of essays from Nora Ephron. One had already appeared in The New Yorker about how she wrote When Harry Met Sally. A fun read.
LibraryThing member deadgirl
Nothing spectacular; light and enjoyable. There were some bits in there that shot straight into my heart, but that's only because I have had similar experiences with what the author wrote. So at least I have that.
I bought this only after she has died, so her two lists at the end of the book, "What
I bought this only after she has died, so her two lists at the end of the book, "What
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I Won't Miss" and "What I Will Miss" made me feel quite sad. Sad but inspired. Show Less
LibraryThing member Pennydart
It probably isn’t fair of me to criticize this book, since its genre is one that I’m predisposed not to like: semi-humorous reflections on the banalities of life, with an occasional recipe thrown in for good measure. I read it only because it was the selection for my neighborhood book club. And
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it didn’t change my opinion of the genre. The book has some poignant moments, in particular near the end where the 69-year Ephron comtemplates the fact that she has only a relatively short time left and lists the things she’ll miss and the things she won’t. (As it turns out, she died less than two years after the book’s publication. ) But overall, Ephron’s essays on meatloaf and Teflon and the way her hair twist up in the back just struck me as insubstantial and not that interesting. Show Less
LibraryThing member tloeffler
This is Ephron's last book, a collection of essays, most of which had been printed elsewhere. I haven't read much of her stuff; there is a recollection stuck in my head that I read something of hers once and didn't like it, but I can't elaborate any further than that. I'm not even sure how this
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ended up on my shelf to start with, but it won the lottery for the next "kitchen book" so I read it. I really enjoyed it. I could relate to so many things in her essays, and some of them had me laughing out loud. When I read the last two chapters, titled "What I Won't Miss" and "What I Will Miss," I remembered that she had died this year, and it made me sad. Still, an enjoyable book, and recommended for a light & amusing read. Show Less
LibraryThing member marient
Hilarious reflections on just about everything. eMAIL, marriage, men, etc.
LibraryThing member Copperskye
Very similar to I Feel Bad About My Neck, this is an eclectic collection of essays on such subjects as aging, sexism, Christmas dinners, inheritances, Lillian Hellman, Lillian Ross, and of course, divorce. My favorite was the story of her mother's encounter with Lillian Ross.
Listening to I Remember
Contrary to the title and the annoying first few minutes where she recounted things she had purportedly forgotten, Nora Ephron remembers a lot. An entertaining way to spend a few hours and read by the author.
Listening to I Remember
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Nothing was a little like enjoying a long NPR segment, one of the "driveway moment" ones, that are touching, often humorous, and oh so true.Contrary to the title and the annoying first few minutes where she recounted things she had purportedly forgotten, Nora Ephron remembers a lot. An entertaining way to spend a few hours and read by the author.
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LibraryThing member bearette24
Feather-light but enjoyable collection of essays on such diverse topics as e-mail, divorce and aging.
LibraryThing member christinejoseph
okay
mildly funny
Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no
mildly funny
Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no
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explaining the stock market but people try”; “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own”; “Cary Grant was Jewish”; “Men cheat”); reveals the alarming evolution, a decade after she wrote and directed You’ve Got Mail, of her relationship with her in-box (“The Six Stages of E-Mail”); and asks the age-old question, which came first, the chicken soup or the cold? All the while, she gives candid, edgy voice to everything women who have reached a certain age have been thinking . . . but rarely acknowledging. Show Less
LibraryThing member Emma_Manolis
I'm not quite sure why this is categorized as Humor. There seemed to be more sadness permeating the pages than anything else. Despite the sadness, I enjoyed listening to Nora's reflections. This isn't a book that I need to have on my shelves, but it was a good listen and I would recommend it to
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those who have enjoyed Nora's other work. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookczuk
Gobbled this down in one evening. Loved the stories, and the sense of "I know that feeling." Nora Ephron was a funny, insightful lady.
Language
Original language
English