I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

Vintage Books

I Feel Bad About My Neck:  And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman
Nora Ephron
2006

The Summary
"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..., Sleepless in Seattle, You've Got Mail and Bewitched, and the author of best sellers Heartburn, Scribble Scribble, and Crazy Salad, discusses everything--from how much she hates to 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 as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent.  She recounts her anything-but-glamorous days as White House intern during the JFK years ('I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House that the President did not make a pass at') and shares how she fell in and out of love with Bill Clinton--from a distance, of course.  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 a book of wisdom, advice, and laugh-out-loud moment, a scrumptious, irresistible treat."

The Good
Nora Ephron's collection of essays is incredibly funny.  Ephron speaks to the universal experiences of all women, pointing out our shared fear of getting older, our worries of wrinkle and our eventual dependence on hair dye, our trouble with large purses (in which it's easy to lose everything, except that random little tic tac that always seems to appear).  It's a short book that's accessible to most, if not all, women who find themselves in similarly hilarious situations.

Overall, I enjoyed I Feel Bad About My Neck.  It's very well-written, incredibly descriptive, and strangely appealing.  I loved her essays because they spoke to me on a personal level, especially where purses are concerned.  (I can certainly see why Ephron dislikes them so, but, like her, I find them a necessary evil for random assortment of things I carry around, such as my books, or candy, or notebooks, or, heaven forbid, something reasonable like a wallet.)

Moreover, Ephron's book is short and it get straight to the point.  Unlike Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace, which I attempted to read before I found Ephron, I Feel Bad About My Neck is incredibly appealing, ridiculously funny, and accessible.  It doesn't get stale, because Ephron manages to enchant you with her writing.  She uses short, often funny--and frequently insightful--stories that are sure to appeal to many readers.

The Bad
No complaints.

I enjoyed the entire collection of essays.

The Ugly
Growing older is no picnic, as Ephron makes apparent.

Now, I can't help but wonder what's waiting in store for me.  I suppose I'll just have to find out.  In the mean time, I will learn to better appreciate the neck that I have.