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Essays. Family & Relationships. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML:With her disarming, intimate, completely accessible voice, and dry sense of humor, Nora Ephron shares with us her ups and downs in I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK, a candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself. The woman who brought us When Harry Met Sally . . . discusses everything�??from how much she hates her purse to how much time she spends attempting to stop the clock: the hair dye, the treadmill, the lotions and creams that promise to slow the aging process but never do. Oh, and she can�??t stand the way her neck looks. But her dermatologist tells her there�??s no quick fix for that. Ephron chronicles her life, but mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age. Utterly courageous, wickedly funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK is an audiobook of wisdom, advice, and laugh-out-loud moments, a scrumptious, irresistib… (more)
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I really loved her essay called "Moving On" when she discusses how New York City is very livable, it's when you leave and try to visit that it feels foreign. I felt that way about London. Loved it, but when you visit later that pub is closed, that restaurant moved and you somehow feel your nostalgia has been betrayed. Her essay "On Rapture" was probably my favorite. She talks about the rapture you feel after reading an amazing book. The feeling of being so enthralled by it that all you want to do is disappear into its pages. I think we can all relate to that.
It was a fun quick read, but didn't leave me thinking anything too deep.
She also appreciates a good book: "There's something called the rapture of the deep, and it refers to what happens when a deep-sea diver spends too much time at the bottom of the ocean and can't tell which way is up. When he surfaces, he's liable to have a condition called the bends, where the body can't adapt to the oxygen levels in the atmosphere. All this happens to me when I surface from a great book."
Isn't that a great way to describe the feeling of having to come back to reality when it is past time to put that book down?
Ephron comes across as a privileged, whining, snotty rich girl who complains a lot. One of the chapters is actually titled "I Hate My Purse." My
Favourite part: Just about every moment she's talking about New York. She makes it sound so dynamic and appealing and even, dare I say it, friendly, like an ever-shifting cornucopia of great food, abundant amenities, cultural opportunities, 24-hour convenience and interesting people.
Least favourite part: Maybe the parts where she is obviously particularly addressing the older reader (Ephron was in her early sixties when many of these pieces were written). Not that these parts weren't still funny and a good read - after all, we're all going to get there one day - but obviously in my mid-twenties it was harder to relate to in terms of the experience and the humour.
But you'll finish the whole book in 27 minutes. Am I glad I borrowed this from the library. Anyone who shells out $22 for the hardcover has a right to demand a partial refund. Even paperback buyers will be annoyed.
Apparently, the neck of a woman begins to morph around the age of forty-five—a magical time when v-necks mysteriously vanish and turtlenecks, mandarin collars and scarves appear. Remember the funny scene in Something’s Gotta Give when Jack Nicholson asks Diane Keaton, “What’s with the turtlenecks? I mean it’s the middle of summer.”
We know Diane’s secret: young, smooth skin becomes, turkey waddles, Greek columns, or swollen butterflies as we age. My neck is exhibiting the early stages of what I like to call the classical period. Picture a large, marble, Palladian column with polished surface, such as found in Venice, Italy. Now, add thousands of years of sea breezes and summer suns. The result, a chalky pillar with huge gaps between the sections, becoming less classical and more shabby-chic.
Considering the options, wearing clothing to downplay the area is a viable solution. Author Ephron continues to say the offending neck cannot be “fixed” without a full-blown face-lift. Why not skip the expensive procedure and buy a stylish choker instead?
For twenty weeks this book has remained on the bestsellers list for a good reason. Ephron’s point of view on aging is priceless. The neck business is just the first chapter. There are 15 chapters dealing with aging, parenting annoyances, and cooking disasters. Her chapter on cookbook history is lost on me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the imaginary conversations she carries on with the chefs. Just what would you serve Craig Claiborne if he came to dinner?
If the Ephron name sounds familiar, it is because she co-wrote movie favorites, When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. She also wrote the book and screen play, Heartburn, which told of her divorce to Watergate journalist, Carl Bernstein.
Don’t let the title scare you away. This book can induce laughs from a variety of woman, no matter their age. As my new age indicates, I’m pretty much on the downhill slide, so why not buckle-up, raise my (flabby) arms, and go down laughing?
However, "I Feel Bad About My Neck" disappointed me in more ways that I can comment. I felt as
Let's hope Ephron bounces back with something more memorable. Or at least turns this into blogspace and lets it float away into Cyperspace.
“Reading is one of the main things I do. Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading
Of everything she wrote in this book, her passion for reading is what I identified with.
Per word, it may be the most expensive book I've ever bought.
Thank God I'm a male.
Not sure what the chapter about the apartment had to do with "Neck"
Ephron has written some very interesting, amusing, poignant.......screenplays.