I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (2006, Hardcover)

Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck is definitely a trip through the wry. The book opens with the title essay about aging and concludes with a rumination about death called "Considering the Alternative." Packed between are essays about books treasured along the way, thoughts on bodily upkeep, the stages of parenting, a timeline of beloved cookbooks, cabbage strudel, her love affair with an apartment and "The Story of My Life in 3,500 Words or Less."

The book is a quilt fashioned from swatches of a life graced with privilege, which can make empathizing with Ephron a bit difficult, at times. We all end up too aware of our body's deterioration, but we don't all have our hair done twice a week or have our unwanted facial fuzz "threaded" by a woman who uses "a fantastic and thrilling method of hair removal she had learned in Russia." As far as money is concerned, the specifics of financial outlay, throughout the book, are far less than universal.

Most women will love the essay about her purse. Ephron is writing here for women "who understand that their purses are reflections of negligent housekeeping, hopeless disorganization, a chronic inability to throw anything away." Her list of permanent handbag contents includes loose Tic-Tacs, lipsticks with no covers, leaky ballpoint pens and crumpled tissues that might have been used but equally well might not have been -- who can tell?

Despite the melancholy tone of this collection, the book has many laugh-out-loud moments. As proven by her many successful movies and humor pieces, Ephron is always good for an amusing line, a wry smile, and sometimes a grin of recognition as she homes in on one of our own dubious obsessions.

I Feel Bad About My Neck will certainly not resonate with anyone who is resentful of their socio-economic condition, but if a good laugh and light reading is what you are after, you will enjoy this book.