Book Review: "I Feel Bad About My Neck" by Nora Ephron

Back when I read The Most of Nora Ephron I complained about the fact that the ricotta omelette was absolutely terrible (it was, it was so disgusting I cannot believe she would eat that). But the book itself was absolutely hilarious. Universally female, funny and conversational - Nora Ephron didn't really hold back from showing us the frustrations and microaggresisons women experience every day. Even if that meant they were feeding it to themselves. I Feel Bad About My Next and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman is another one of these books where Nora Ephron takes us on a funny journey through the thoughts of womanhood.

I Feel Bad About My Neck is the opening story in which the author discusses how her and her friends would often feel bad about their necks now they were ageing. It's true that you can get all the botox and face lifts in the world, but one look at the neck and it'll show as to how old you are. Just look at someone like Shirley Ballas (even I commented on how different her face and neck look when watching her on TV). But, instead of scrutinising the whole ordeal, Ephron makes it funny, relatable and often charming. She goes back and forth between how ageing gracefully is great, but she still feels bad about her neck.

I really also enjoyed I Hate My Purse because my god, I could relate to this one. Every woman has a purse or a handbag, a backpack or a bag of some kind that she carries around a lot. In this bag there are things that have been there for years, however questionable they are. We can never really find the motivation to empty them and so, more crap gets crammed in. Nora Ephron takes an analysis of this and applies it to herself. She looks at a situation in which her friend wanted to buy a 'Kelly bag' - something vintage. It was very expensive and didn't really fit anything in it. Is it true that as we mature in mind as women, we are more apt to looking for bags that actually fit all of our things in them rather than what's 'trendy'? Well, as someone who only ever carries a tote bag or a backpack - I think I can say that I am at least half way there.

On Maintenance is another, slightly longer, piece in this text which deals with the maintenance that women tend to do in order to keep themselves looking the way they want. I have to admit, I don't do all of these, but when it came to doing my nails - I felt personally attacked. My nails are almost always rounded and painted jet black, and they are kept (as long as I can keep them without them breaking), at a particular length. Nora Ephron analyses this phenomenon of manicuring alongside the way in which the attitudes towards her own nails changed and how she once saw a street that had more manicure places than liquor stores. She goes on about hair and skin, looking at creams for legs and moisturisers for the face - she gets all sharp and witty in that classic Nora Ephron fashion. I have to say I read this with a giant grin on my face. It was frank and hilarious.

In Moving On, Nora Ephron takes us through what happened after she left her husband. She was glad to be able to go back to New York and took up a place (rented) in a part of it where she could basically walk to a lot of great places. She took out a loan to get her place and everything was going so well, she was practically remarried to her building. But then rent stabilisation was pulled from under her feet and she was told that the rent would now increase yearly - though she didn't know why. Anyone who has ever rented knows what a huge scam this is - it is basically a stupid rule which allows greedy landlords to squeeze more and more money out of the average working person for no good reason. Eventually, she discovers she won't be able to afford to live there and has to move out. She must divorce from her building. It's so sad because when she moves somewhere else, she has to admit that it isn't love - it's just where she lives.

I adored this book and there's plenty more to be seen than what I've covered. Nora Ephron will always be a giant of the relatable female essay and alongside women like Gloria Steinem and Joan Didion, I think we can all agree that Nora Ephron was perhaps, at least, the funniest. This book was a wonderfully fun read.