I Feel Bad About My Neck

Personal, brave, and honest. I read this weeks before Nora Ephron died, and now I feel like I miss her.

i didn't actually had high hopes for this one at first, i thought she was going to complain about everything and then i got hooked. she was a girl once too, and i truly loved how she showed her way through womanhood. i don't usually give 5 stars to books but this one so well deserved it, and i hate memoirs

I wish I knew how hard the last chapter (consider the alternative) hit before I decided to read it on my lunch break at work. Nothing's more awkward than choking back tears while you survey the lounge to see if anyone sees you!!! The rest of the book was lighter, just a heads up. This is my first Nora book and probably not my last.

Part stream of consciousness and part love letter to New York, I'm not certain it's really that much about being a woman but it was fun.
Ephron managed to make me feel better about the state of my slightly worn-out purse, maybe I have at least SOME of my proverbial shit together. I related to her experience in many ways and got annoyed with some of her takes but overall it was a fun, quick read and her declaration of love to some of the books she read was absolutely beautiful.

Reread for my book club. Open it anywhere and you will find humor. But my favorite chapter was probably the last one in which Ephron talked about death. She didn't know she only had six more years to live. I hope she was generous with the bath oil.

One sentence synopsis... Hilarious, candid observations on getting older and the maintenance of being a woman. .

Read it if you like... intimate details about other people's personal lives. This book felt like reading someone's private diary. .

Further reading... other biographies and essay collections by hilarious women, ex. Ali Wong, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, etc...

Ephron is candid, sarcastic, and funny. The book almost reads like a future self giving advice to a past self. Loved it!

I loved this so much. It was funny and thoughtful. And as a big When Harry Met Sally and You've Got Mail, there were just enough hints of those to make me swoon.

2.5 stars I was definitely not the targeted audience for this book.

I understand that I am probably not the intended audience for I Feel Bad About My Neck. But I grew up watching Sleepless in Seattle on a regular basis and was excited to read something by the screenwriter. I was supremely disappointed.
This was the most pretentious nonfiction book I've ever read. Honestly. Am I really supposed to be sympathetic that a rich white woman feels like she just HAS TO get a manicure weekly? Or that she spends enough money on getting her hair colored every year to buy a CAR? What a terribly sad life she has. I don't think she could have done more name dropping if she tried and the humblebragging was out of this world.
I made myself suffer through the entire second half even though it made me want to puke. But if I'm being honest, I didn't finish the last 4 pages, it was already way past redemption.

I could go on for hours about the shameless privilege but I'll leave it at this: you will gain nothing from reading this book.

Some of my favorite movies are Nora Ephron movies, but I think for the most part, I'm not at the point of this humor yet. Just turning 40 is much different than being 64 and all the trials and tribulations, knowledge and wisdom that come with another 2 decades of life. I don't have a fear of purses, have rarely spent more that $20 on one. I don't care if I leave the house without eyeliner and I don't even own a makeup bag. I've never fallen in love with a house.

But the writing is wonderful and it kept me reading. There were moments in which I felt more than others and a couple of times when I chuckled.

I do miss her.