I Feel Bad About My Neck

And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

By: Nora Ephron

Narrated by: Nora Ephron

Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's 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 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 a White House intern during the JFK years 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 moments, a scrumptious, irresistible treat.

©2006 Nora Ephron (P)2006 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• The Book Sense Book of the Year Award, Adult Nonfiction, 2007

"Ephron returns to her print roots with a new collection of essays reflecting the perspective of an aging, but still crackling sharp, cultural scribe." (Boston Globe)

"This current gatherum of hard and funny truths spares neither the author's pride nor her audience's, but it does salve wounds, and many of Ephron's insights are bound to come in handy." (The New York Times Book Review)

"Ephron's insights make the book an enjoyable romp.... For people who want a little candor and humor about not only hanging on but getting on, this book is for you." (The New York Post)

I wrote this book.....Or I could have written it

If I had the wit and gift with words of Nora Ephron! I hesitated to buy it after many of the reviews below but I'M SO GLAD I DID! Ms. Ephron's voice, both written and narrative, is perfect. Of course, I'm 54. She's about 10 years older than I. I think women under 45 should put this on the shelf to be re-addressed in a decade or so. I've recommended it to all my dear women friends. Now I'm going to start it over from the beginning and enjoy it again.

My new best friend but too late

Loved this book so much and appreciated her narration! I wish I’d known her. Thank you Nora.

Humor— I laughed a lot.

I liked the point of view—wryly open-eyed and unapologetic; a capacity to say things in terms I found easy to grasp and relate to from my own experience.

The best

If you are a Nora Ephron fan, this is a classic. I will forever miss her wonderful good nature. She has made getting older with a certain style. I will listen to this many more times.

Don't make me get out of the car...

...I'm still listening to "I Feel Bad About My Neck."

It took me a little while to get used to Nora Ephron's narration of her own work. Her reading style reminds me of a kindergarten teacher who reads slowly, pronouncing each word carefully, to help her students learn to read. Not quite how I imagine her voice in my head when I read her work. Her voice trails off at the ends of some sentences, and I had to reel back and turn up the volume to catch some key phrases.

But once I got past that, the book itself was wonderful -- alternately hillarious and touching. I listened on my commute, and I was sorely tempted sometimes to just keep driving so that I could hear more about Ms. Ephron's views of growing past that "certain age" in America -- more about hair dyes and nail jobs, more about face creams that promise everything and deliver a big hole in your wallet, more about beige couches and cooking, more about Bill Clinton, Ms. Ephron's confessions about JFK, and a final essay on the one inevitability in life.

With some audiobooks, I get in the car and think, "Oh, yeah, I guess I should listen some more." With this one, it was, "Oh, hey, gotta get in the car and listen to that Nora Ephron book again!"

Only mildly amusing

This selection was entertaining enough to while away a trans-oceanic plane ride, but only just. We know Nora Ephron's reputation as a screenwriter ("Heartburn", "When Harry Met Sally").
I was expecting more humor. What I got was a lot of New York rich white woman whining on a lot of subjects that many of us are never in a position to consider (rent-controlled luxury apartments with doormen, for instance), leavened with sone (but not enough) wry wittiness.
The big disappointment comes toward the end, when Ephron begins to wax very negative and pessimistic on the subjects of aging and death. Very depressing, without so much as the relief of a smile!
Not awful, but not wonderful either.

What a joy!

I love, love, love Nora Ephron. So warm, so witty. The only thing better than the wonderful collection of essays in this book is that they're delivered by Nora herself. I felt like I was in the company of a friend, and a very funny friend at that!

I Loved It!

It was very well done, and hilarious at every turn. Toward the end it grew a bit more serious, but it fit in well with the overall direction of the book. I highly recommend it.

Like It

Starts off slow but gets better and better as it goes. Her voice is also nice to listen to. This book cracked me up, I will look for more of Nora's books. -- I say worth it!

Excellent on many levels.

This book is full of Funny, touching, and thought provoking stories. I think I’ll read it again soon.