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I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK

And other thoughts on being a woman.

by Nora Ephron ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 2006

One doesn’t need to be a post-menopausal New Yorker with a liberal outlook and comfortable income to enjoy Ephron’s take on...

A disparate assortment of sharp and funny pieces revealing the private anguishes, quirks and passions of a woman on the brink of senior citizenhood.

Ephron, whose screenwriting credits include Sleepless in Seattle , When Harry Met Sally and Silkwood , has brought together 15 essays, most of them previously published in the New York Times , the New Yorker or assorted women’s/fashion magazines. She explores the woes of aging with honesty—hair-coloring and Botox are standard treatments, as is getting a mustache wax—but maintaining a 60-plus body is only her starting point. Ephron includes breezy accounts of her culinary misadventures, her search for the perfect cabbage strudel and her dissatisfaction with women’s purses. An essay on her love affair and eventual disenchantment with the Apthorp apartment building on Manhattan’s West Side deftly captures both the changes in New York City and in her own life. There’s an unusual pairing of presidential pieces: A lighthearted piece on her non-encounter with Kennedy when she was a White House intern in the 1960s is followed by a fiercely astringent one on the failings of Bill Clinton. Some of the pieces, such as her essay on parenting, seem tentative, and two, “The Story of My Life in 3,500 Words or Less” and “What I Wish I’d Known,” read like works in progress, suggesting that they may have been rushed into print to fill the pages of a too-small book.

Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2006

ISBN: 0-307-26455-6

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2006

GENERAL NONFICTION

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More by Nora Ephron

THE MOST OF NORA EPHRON

BOOK REVIEW

by Nora Ephron

I REMEMBER NOTHING

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

More by E.T.A. Hoffmann

THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

THE NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

Episodes from the life of lady mendl (elsie de wolfe).

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.

Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955

ISBN: 0670717797

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955

More by Ludwig Bemelmans

MADELINE'S SEASONS

developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno

LOVE FROM MADELINE

by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno

LA BONNE TABLE

by Ludwig Bemelmans

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  • I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other...

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

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Nora Ephron is back with this slim, delightful volume of short essays about what it's like to be a modern woman, particularly a woman "of a certain age." No odes to Jimmy Choos and Birkin bags here. No long boozy discourses on unattainable men while drinking cosmopolitans. On the contrary, Ephron spends a great deal of time discussing the very real frustrations of being a modern woman. She's not one to suffer gladly from "purse envy": In the aptly titled "I Hate My Purse" she warns: "If you're one of those women who think there's something great about purses, don't even bother reading this because there will be nothing here for you." She details a recent trip to Paris with a friend whose mission it was to obtain a vintage Kelly Bag, which she did, only to sit for hours at a café because she didn't want to get her new bag wet in the rain. All that money and fuss for something that loose Tic Tacs will litter the bottom of, the author muses.

One of the more enjoyable essays serves as a sort of culinary memoir. In "Serial Monogamy: A Memoir," Ephron recalls her introduction to cuisine and cooking, with the gift of THE GOURMET COOKBOOK from her mother in 1962. Intrigued by trying out new recipes and admiring those who write them, she gleans what she can from everyone from Julia Child to Martha Stewart. In addition to savory memories of meals past, she imparts helpful information such as "the Rule of Four," something she picked up from a chef specializing in southern cuisine, the idea being that "most people serve three things for dinner --- some sort of meat, some sort of starch, and some sort of vegetable --- but Lee always served four. And the fourth thing was always unexpected...whatever it was, that fourth thing seemed to have an almost magical effect on the eating process." If "Serial Monogamy" doesn't send you running for your cookbooks, then nothing will.

The title essay, as well as "On Maintenance," directly addresses the issue of aging in this youth-obsessed culture. Ephron wishes she could do something about her sagging neck instead of always wearing scarves and turtlenecks to compensate. But she knows that to do something about her neck would require a full face-lift and she's not quite ready for that level of surgical commitment. What about exercise? This is a woman who views her DVD of the musical Chicago as a workout tape, so logging time on the treadmill is her idea of hell. If there are any young readers of this collection, Ephron suggests they appreciate their youthful beauty while they have it, which means to put on a bikini and don't take it off until you're 34.

The ode to New York living, "Moving On," which was published in The New Yorker prior to this collection, might find resonance with only metropolitan readers, but most of these essays remind us of just why we love Nora Ephron in the first place. Always witty, urbane but not alienating, inviting and funny, she charms her readers with her agonies and ecstasies of being a woman. Reading I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK is the literary equivalent of having lunch with a close girlfriend.

Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller on January 22, 2011

book review i feel bad about my neck

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

  • Publication Date: August 1, 2006
  • Genres: Essays , Humor
  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf
  • ISBN-10: 0307264556
  • ISBN-13: 9780307264558

book review i feel bad about my neck

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I Feel Bad About My Neck : Book summary and reviews of I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

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I Feel Bad About My Neck

And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

by Nora Ephron

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

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Published Aug 2006 160 pages Genre: Biography/Memoir Publication Information

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About this book

Book summary.

A candid, hilarious look at women who are getting older and dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself. Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. She recounts her anything-but-glamorous days as a 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.

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Media Reviews

Reader reviews.

"May Ephron, and her purse, endure so she can continue to tell us how it goes. Or, at least, where it went." - Publishers Weekly. " Despite the elegiac tone of this collection, it would be nice to think that we'll have Nora Ephron around for a long time. She's always good for an amusing line, a wry smile, and sometimes an abashed grin of recognition as she homes in on one of our own dubious obsessions. "Goodbye" may be her final word in this uneven book, but with any luck, it'll turn out that she doesn't mean it." - The Washington Post. "One doesn't need to be a post-menopausal New Yorker with a liberal outlook and comfortable income to enjoy Ephron's take on life, but those who fit the profile will surely relish it most." - Kirkus Reviews.

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Author Information

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Nora Ephron Author Biography

Nora Ephron was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, novelist, and blogger. She will likely be best remembered for her romantic comedies and was a triple nominee for the Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for three films: Silkwood , When Harry Met Sally, and Sleepless in Seattle . She died in 2012 at the age of 71. Plays

  • Silkwood , 1992
  • When Harry Met Sally , 1998
  • Imaginary Friends , 2003
  • Love, Loss and What I Wore , 2011 with Delia Ephron
  • Silkwood (writer), 1983
  • Heartburn (writer, novel), 1986
  • When Harry Met Sally... (writer, associate producer), 1989
  • Cookie (writer, executive producer), 1989
  • My Blue Heaven (writer, executive producer), 1990
  • This Is My Life (director, writer), 1992
  • Sleepless in ...

... Full Biography

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book review i feel bad about my neck

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Nora Ephron

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman Paperback – 25 Feb. 2008

  • Print length 224 pages
  • Language English
  • Publisher Black Swan
  • Publication date 25 Feb. 2008
  • Dimensions 12.7 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm
  • ISBN-10 0552773816
  • ISBN-13 978-0552773812
  • See all details

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  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Black Swan; Reprint edition (25 Feb. 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0552773816
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0552773812
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 1.7 x 19.8 cm
  • 335 in Political Humour (Books)
  • 414 in Divorce & Separation (Books)
  • 541 in Family & Marriage Biographies

About the author

Nora ephron.

Nora Ephron has received Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay for When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood, and Sleepless in Seattle, which she also directed. She lived in New York City with her husband, writer Nicholas Pileggi.

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I Feel Great About My Neck

It took me to my mid-40s to learn not to depend on anyone else’s approval of my appearance.

book review i feel bad about my neck

By Glynnis MacNicol

Like many of you, I have spent the last 14 months staring at my neck. In all of human history, perhaps no necks (or eyes, or foreheads) have been inspected so relentlessly, and with such attention to detail, as ours collectively have since last March, while working and socializing from home. If Narcissus had been required to look into a high-definition camera, with or without a ring light, for hours each day, would he have been so enamored with his own appearance?

Based on the surge in people currently seeking cosmetic procedures, what some are calling the “ Zoom boom ,” it seems unlikely.

And yet I find myself, midway through my 40s, freed from agonizing over my best angle, feeling just fine about my neck. Great, actually. This is no small feat, as anyone who’s read Nora Ephron can tell you.

Fifteen years ago, Ephron, who would have turned 80 this month, published the essay collection “ I Feel Bad About My Neck : And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman” — and people have been referencing it ever since. I was 31 that summer, just entering the decade that fashion magazines set up as though it were a creature-of-the-deep horror movie: While things might appear to be fine, terrors were lurking under the surface waiting to take me down if I didn’t take the necessary precautions.

I recall reading Ephron’s title essay in my bathtub, emerging from the hot water to inspect my neck in the mirror and promptly resolving to pay close attention to its care. And I did. Along with the rest of my face, it was washed and moisturized daily without fail. I did this for years with the quiet superiority of someone who’s been shown the answer to the exam before taking it. Ephron provided guidance.

Her words — funny and blunt and smacking of honesty — felt like a blast of fresh air. To those of us not yet feeling bad about our necks, there was still time! Not just to take preventive measures, but to enjoy ourselves. You should not feel bad about how you looked in a bikini until you were 34, Ephron said, at which point, goodbye to all that. Our necks would not go wrong until age 43, at which point nothing could be done. Before these sell-by dates, however, failing to enjoy ourselves was foolish.

This was the radical gift Ephron gave us: Permission to enjoy ourselves even if it came with a deadline. There was nothing that suggested this was possible in any women’s magazine I had ever come across, which were (and largely remain) compendiums of all the things that were wrong with us and needed to be fixed if we wanted to find love or happiness or worth in the world, let alone have fun.

I didn’t need to look far to see the cruelty of adhering to this system. My mother was a woman who could quote Shakespeare, tell you the Latin root of any word and routinely did crossword puzzles in pen. And yet, one of my most abiding memories of her was her endless battle to lose 20 pounds and her inability to recognize her own beauty. It wasn’t until a year or so before her death, when her body and her mind had been ravaged by her illness, taking with it those stubborn pounds, that she finally took joy in her own appearance. “Isn’t it amazing how thin I am?” she said one afternoon, acknowledging her skeletal frame, an unmistakable note of triumph in her voice. I’ve heard similar stories from so many friends, and it feels like a gut punch every time.

The fourth essay in “I Feel Bad About My Neck” is titled “On Maintenance.” In it, Ephron describes every single beauty routine she subscribed to. This was nearly a decade before the advent of self-care beauty sites; in some ways, Ephron was ahead of her time. “Maintenance,” she says, “is what you do just so you can walk out the door knowing that if you go to the market and bump into the guy who once rejected you, you won’t have to hide behind a stack of canned food.”

When I reread the collection midway through last year, looking for some joy, this line, and not all the deadlines and ruminations on death, is the one that remained lodged in my head. It turns out I have reached my mid-40s unable to conceive of a life in which the idea of running into an ex-boyfriend, or any man really, factors into my thinking over my appearance. I do think quite a bit about what I wear, and like Ephron enjoy an excess of bath oil, and own many creams. Where I’ve learned to stop short is considering the thoughts of others, let alone ex-boyfriends, regarding the results.

No doubt, this is a result of timing. The years since I entered my 40s included the #MeToo movement and Covid-19. After witnessing so many women publicly reveal their traumatic experiences at the hands of men, and then watching as they drowned under the responsibilities that come with getting all the things you are supposed to be after with all this maintenance, I found myself asking: What is this maintenance for exactly? Who am I hoping will give me permission to feel great, or expect me to feel bad? I feel great. I can’t be convinced otherwise.

Which is not to say I have been able to live Ephron’s advice successfully. One of the skills I’ve acquired since turning 40 is the ability to recognize there will likely always be a gap between seeing a photo of myself and appreciating it. That gap, I’ve realized, is the time it takes me to overcome all the ways I’ve been taught to value myself in the world. The older I get, the more I understand that delay as evidence of a sort of theft. One that I’m only now understanding has occurred, and it is my anger over that which has helped shorten it.

I’m struck, now, too, by the whiteness of Ephron’s concept of beauty. In the section about hair care, Ephron notes that she went to Africa in 1972 and will never return because “there were no hairdressers out in the bush, and as far as I was concerned, that was the end of that place.” She goes on to express her envy for all Asian women: “I mean, have you ever seen an Asian woman whose hair looks bad?” In her book, “Thick: And Other Essays,” Tressie McMillan Cottom, an associate professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, writes : “Beauty is for white women. If not all white women.” Ephron’s adherence to white beauty standards undergirds most of the book.

Ephron, like my mother, was also a complicated woman from a generation that demanded that its women hew to a different idea of womanhood every 10 years and then punished them for it. I am not. These days when I look back at photos of my younger self, acutely aware that I’ve always possessed the things I was taught to believe I was lacking, I can think of my old subscriptions to fashion magazines only as a sort of violence I was enacting upon myself.

Ephron wrote about all the time and money it required to maintain , but I wish she’d also reflected on the brain space. When I think about beauty standards these days — the ones my mother followed, the ones I have — what I mostly consider is all the space the not feeling good took up. It took up most of my mother’s life, and a large portion of my own. I consider all the things that weren’t done, and all the rooms that weren’t walked into because so much of the language of beauty is simply about forcing you to itemize for yourself, over and over, all the ways in which you don’t deserve to be where you are.

Here’s the thing. I feel fine about my neck. And not because all those years of massage and moisturizing rescued me from the dreaded age 43 deadline; about this particular date I must tell you Ephron was correct. I have on occasion tried to feel bad about this, but I can’t. I do not, it turns out, feel bad about my neck, because I do not need to.

Glynnis MacNicol is the author of the memoir “ No One Tells You This .”

book review i feel bad about my neck

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

Nora ephron, . . knopf, $19.95 (137pp) isbn 978-0-307-26455-8.

book review i feel bad about my neck

Reviewed on: 06/05/2006

Genre: Nonfiction

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Downloadable Audio - 1 pages - 978-0-7393-4668-6

Hardcover - 175 pages - 978-0-7862-9252-3

Open Ebook - 224 pages - 978-1-4070-3778-3

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

  • 4.2 • 50 Ratings

Publisher Description

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, irresistible treat.

APPLE BOOKS REVIEW

The only thing better than reading Nora Ephron’s delightful I Feel Bad About My Neck is hearing the rom-com legend read the book herself. Published in 2006, Ephron’s essay collection offers hilarious late-life reflections on what it means to be a woman, a parent, a journalist, and a wannabe chef. Whether she’s telling us about the existential meaning of reading glasses, the struggles of hanging on to a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment, or the indignity of facing down the physical realities of her mid-60s, the When Harry Met Sally screenwriter is always witty and relatable. We miss her terribly.

Customer Reviews

Relatable only if you came from extreme privilege.

Grow up with a private cook? Spend thousands on beauty products? Live on NYC’s upper East Side? Intern in the White House? Maybe it’s for you. Otherwise, move along. You’ll thank me later.

I feel bad about my neck

This woman is unbelievably snooty. If you’re entertained by extreme displays of snobbery you may enjoy it but I can’t get past the first few chapters, don’t think you will find relatability because of age or gender, this is all about social elitism, but not in a self reflection or entertaining way, just babbling!

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

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Nora Ephron is back with this slim, delightful volume of short essays about what it's like to be a modern woman, particularly a woman "of a certain age." No odes to Jimmy Choos and Birkin bags here. No long boozy discourses on unattainable men while drinking cosmopolitans. On the contrary, Ephron spends a great deal of time discussing the very real frustrations of being a modern woman. She's not one to suffer gladly from "purse envy": In the aptly titled "I Hate My Purse" she warns: "If you're one of those women who think there's something great about purses, don't even bother reading this because there will be nothing here for you." She details a recent trip to Paris with a friend whose mission it was to obtain a vintage Kelly Bag, which she did, only to sit for hours at a café because she didn't want to get her new bag wet in the rain. All that money and fuss for something that loose Tic Tacs will litter the bottom of, the author muses.

One of the more enjoyable essays serves as a sort of culinary memoir. In "Serial Monogamy: A Memoir," Ephron recalls her introduction to cuisine and cooking, with the gift of THE GOURMET COOKBOOK from her mother in 1962. Intrigued by trying out new recipes and admiring those who write them, she gleans what she can from everyone from Julia Child to Martha Stewart. In addition to savory memories of meals past, she imparts helpful information such as "the Rule of Four," something she picked up from a chef specializing in southern cuisine, the idea being that "most people serve three things for dinner --- some sort of meat, some sort of starch, and some sort of vegetable --- but Lee always served four. And the fourth thing was always unexpected...whatever it was, that fourth thing seemed to have an almost magical effect on the eating process." If "Serial Monogamy" doesn't send you running for your cookbooks, then nothing will.

The title essay, as well as "On Maintenance," directly addresses the issue of aging in this youth-obsessed culture. Ephron wishes she could do something about her sagging neck instead of always wearing scarves and turtlenecks to compensate. But she knows that to do something about her neck would require a full face-lift and she's not quite ready for that level of surgical commitment. What about exercise? This is a woman who views her DVD of the musical Chicago as a workout tape, so logging time on the treadmill is her idea of hell. If there are any young readers of this collection, Ephron suggests they appreciate their youthful beauty while they have it, which means to put on a bikini and don't take it off until you're 34.

The ode to New York living, "Moving On," which was published in The New Yorker prior to this collection, might find resonance with only metropolitan readers, but most of these essays remind us of just why we love Nora Ephron in the first place. Always witty, urbane but not alienating, inviting and funny, she charms her readers with her agonies and ecstasies of being a woman. Reading I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK is the literary equivalent of having lunch with a close girlfriend.

Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller on January 22, 2011

book review i feel bad about my neck

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

  • Publication Date: August 1, 2006
  • Genres: Essays , Humor
  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf
  • ISBN-10: 0307264556
  • ISBN-13: 9780307264558

book review i feel bad about my neck

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The Literary Edit

The Literary Edit

I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review

I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review

Nora Ephron has been on the periphery of my reading repertoire for a while now. A writer I’ve been recommended many a-time by many a different friend, it was only recently, when I overheard someone buying I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron that I figured it was high time I read it. And while I’m not usually a big fan of collections of essays, the second I began it, I could barely bring myself to put it down. And so, if you’re in the mood for an uplifting read that is as smart as it is funny, read on for my I Feel Bad About My Neck book review.

Nora Ephron’s much-loved I Feel Bad About My Neck is a collection of essays beloved by readers the world over. Author, journalist and podcast host Dolly Alderton, said of the writer’s most lauded book, ‘I give this as a present more than other book. I buy it for people so often that I’ve been known to give girlfriends two copies, one birthday after another’ and it’s easy to see why. A writer known and loved for the likes of When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, and Julia and Julia, in I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron   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. 

Shrewd, wry, and utterly unputdownable, in I Feel Bad About my Neck, Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent and her writing is infused with wit and humour, and depth and longing. While reading her essays, I became that loathsome person that would recite every passage I found funny (almost all of them) to anyone within earshot of my laughter, and I must have recommended to almost everyone who would listen in the weeks since I finished it. A book that is a ray of sunshine on a gloomy day, and one that I will return to again and again, it is easily one of the best, and most joyous books I have ever, ever read. The biggest benefit of discovering Ephron so late in my reading life, is that I now have her entire back catalogue to work my way through.

Timely, honest, captivating, witty, candid, and entirely relatable, after reading I Feel Bad About My Neck, I too have joined the legion of loyal fans who worship at the altar of Nora Ephron.

Buy I Feel Bad About My Neck from Waterstones ,  Amazon or  Amazon AU .

I Feel Bad About My Neck Summary

Now with an introduction from Dolly Alderton, author of  Everything I Know About Love,  revealing how a new generation of women can take inspiration from Nora’s sharp wit and wisdom about life.

*  Never marry a man you wouldn’t want to be divorced from.

* If the shoe doesn’t fit in the shoe store, it’s never going to fit.

* When your children are teenagers, it’s important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.

* If only one third of your clothes are mistakes, you’re ahead of the game.

* Anything you think is wrong with your body at the age of thirty-five you will be nostalgic for by the age of forty-five.

Nora Ephron Author Bio

Nora Ephron was an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and film director of  When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail  and  Julie & Julia . She was also a bestselling novelist  (Heartburn , made into a film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep), and journalist. Her last books  I Feel Bad About My Neck  and  I Remember Nothing  were both huge international bestsellers. She died in 2012.

More Nora Ephron Books

If you liked I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron, you may also enjoy: The Most of Nora Ephron, Nora Ephron: The Last Interview, Crazy Salad and I Remember Nothing.

2 comments on “I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review”

Hey Lucy! I’m one of those ardent fans of yours… Adding Nora Ephron to my list! Thanks!????

Aw, thank you! I hope you love Nora Ephron as much as I do xo

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Review of the Book I Feel Bad About My Neck

book review i feel bad about my neck

Nora Ephron has been at the edge of my reading repertoire for some time. A writer who was repeatedly recommended to me by many different friends, I thought only recently, when I heard how someone bought Nora Ephron’s I Feel Bad About My Neck, that it was high time to read it. And although I’m not usually a big fan of essay collections, the second I started doing it, I could hardly bring myself to put it down. So if you’re in the mood for an uplifting read that’s as smart as it is funny, keep reading for my book review I Feel Bad About My Neck.

book review i feel bad about my neck

I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review

Nora Ephron’s highly acclaimed I Feel Bad About My Neck is a collection of essays that are loved by readers all over the world. The author, journalist and podcast host Dolly Alderton said about the author’s most praised book: “I give this more than another book. I buy it for people so often that I’m known for giving my girlfriends two copies, one birthday at a time ” and it’s easy to understand why. Nora Ephron, a writer known and loved for her novels When Harry met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, they have mail and Julia and Julia, in I Feel Bad for my Neck, Nora Ephron discusses everything from how much she hates her purse to how much time she spends stopping the clock: hair dyes, treadmill, lotions and creams that promise to slow down the aging process, but never do.

book review i feel bad about my neck

Artful, ironic and absolutely impenetrable, in I feel bad in the neck, Ephron tells about her life as an prepossess cook, a passionate city dweller and unhappy parents, and her writing is imbued with wit and humor, depth and nostalgia. When I read his essays, I became that repulsive person who recited every passage that I found funny (almost all of them) to everyone within earshot of my laughter, and I had to recommend it to almost everyone who heard it in recent weeks suivi.je i finished it. A book that is a ray of sunshine on a dark day and that I will come back to again and again is certainly one of the best and most cheerful books I have ever read. The biggest advantage of discovering Ephron so after in my life as a reader is that I now have his entire catalog to work my way through.

Contemporary, honest, captivating, funny, open and absolutely relatable, after reading I feel bad in the neck, I too joined the LEGION of loyal fans who worship at the altar of Nora Ephron.

I feel bad in the neck at Waterstones, Amazon or Amazon AU.

book review i feel bad about my neck

I Feel Bad About My Throat Summary

Now with an introduction by Dolly Alderton, author of Everything I Know About Love, revealing how a new generation of women can be inspired by Nora’s sharp mind and wisdom about life.

  •  Never marry a man from whom you do not want to annulment.
  •  If the shoe does not fit in the shoe store, it will never fit.
  •  If your children are teenagers, it is important to have a dog so that someone in the house will be happy to see you.
  •  If only a third of your clothes are flaws, you are ahead of the game.
  •  Everything you think is wrong with your body when you are thirty-five, you become nostalgic when you are forty-five.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

book review i feel bad about my neck

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  1. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

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COMMENTS

  1. I Feel Bad About My Neck, And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

    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 moments, a scrumptious, irresistible treat. 139 pages, Hardcover.

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

    But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as an older woman. Utterly courageous, uproariously funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I Feel Bad About My Neck is a scrumptious, irresistible treat of a book, full of truths, laugh out loud moments that will appeal to readers of all ages.

  3. 'I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman,' by

    The book became a best seller, and then a movie, in which two two-time Oscar winners played the leads: Jack Nicholson, as the louse, and Meryl Streep, in a raven-hued coif, as Ephron's alter ego ...

  4. 'I Feel Bad About My Neck,' by Nora Ephron

    July 27, 2006. A standout among the essays in Nora Ephron's "I Feel Bad About My Neck" is titled "On Maintenance.". It describes the bare minimum of costly, time-consuming beauty rituals ...

  5. I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK

    A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; -15-100227-4) Share your opinion of this book. A disparate assortment of sharp and funny pieces revealing the private anguishes, quirks and passions of a woman on the brink of senior citizenhood.

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

    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 . . .

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

    Reading I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK is the literary equivalent of having lunch with a close girlfriend. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller on January 22, 2011. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman ... Publisher: Knopf; ISBN-10: 0307264556; ISBN-13: 9780307264558; Review; About the Book; Excerpt; Discussion Questions; Reading Guide ...

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

    A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. Author interviews, book reviews and lively book commentary are found here. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors.

  9. I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron: 9780307276827

    About I Feel Bad About My Neck. 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 . . .

  10. Summary and reviews of I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron

    This information about I Feel Bad About My Neck was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter.Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication.

  11. I Feel Bad About My Neck

    9780307264558. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman is a 2006 book written by Nora Ephron. [1] The book collects humor essays by Ephron, many of which deal with aging: her ups and downs dealing with the tribulations of maintenance, menopause, empty nests, and life itself. [2] (. Ephron published the collection when she ...

  12. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman

    Buy I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts On Being a Woman Reprint by Ephron, Nora (ISBN: 9780552773812) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. ... Book reviews & recommendations: Amazon Home Services Experienced pros Happiness Guarantee: IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities : Kindle Direct Publishing

  13. I Feel Great About My Neck

    The fourth essay in "I Feel Bad About My Neck" is titled "On Maintenance.". In it, Ephron describes every single beauty routine she subscribed to. This was nearly a decade before the ...

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

    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.. Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent.

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

    I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman Nora Ephron, . . Knopf, $19.95 (137pp) ISBN 978--307-26455-8

  16. ‎I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being ...

    APPLE BOOKS REVIEW. The only thing better than reading Nora Ephron's delightful I Feel Bad About My Neck is hearing the rom-com legend read the book herself. Published in 2006, Ephron's essay collection offers hilarious late-life reflections on what it means to be a woman, a parent, a journalist, and a wannabe chef.

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

    Reading I FEEL BAD ABOUT MY NECK is the literary equivalent of having lunch with a close girlfriend. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller on January 22, 2011. I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman ... Publisher: Knopf; ISBN-10: 0307264556; ISBN-13: 9780307264558; Review; About the Book; Excerpt; Discussion Questions; Reading Guide ...

  18. I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review

    Shrewd, wry, and utterly unputdownable, in I Feel Bad About my Neck, Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent and her writing is infused with wit and humour, and depth and longing. While reading her essays, I became that loathsome person that would recite every passage I found funny (almost all ...

  19. I Feel Bad About My Neck Kindle Edition

    In the book titled "I Feel Bad about My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, Nora Ephron screenwriter, novelist, producer, and film director expresses her physical, mental, and emotional outpourings on age advancement. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I opened the book and began to read. The first lines read like poetry.

  20. Review of the Book I Feel Bad About My Neck

    I Feel Bad About My Neck Book Review Nora Ephron's highly acclaimed I Feel Bad About My Neck is a collection of essays that are loved by readers all over the world. The author, journalist and podcast host Dolly Alderton said about the author's most praised book: "I give this more than another book.

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

    In the book titled "I Feel Bad about My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, Nora Ephron screenwriter, novelist, producer, and film director expresses her physical, mental, and emotional outpourings on age advancement. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I opened the book and began to read. The first lines read like poetry.

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

    In the book titled "I Feel Bad about My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, Nora Ephron screenwriter, novelist, producer, and film director expresses her physical, mental, and emotional outpourings on age advancement. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I opened the book and began to read. The first lines read like poetry.

  23. Amazon.com: Customer reviews: I Feel Bad About My Neck

    An entertaining and somewhat short book, Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck is the perfect book for women of a certain age who are beginning to have neck issues, hair issues, and skin issues. Although my intention was to read a couple of chapters before tackling some "homecaring," once I began reading, I couldn't stop. Each chapter was ...