I Remember Nothing and Other Works

[Shea]

Please share any thoughts you have on the works of Nora Ephron.

[Shea]

I Remember Nothing: and Other Reflections

I appreciate honesty and good or bad Nora Ephron was honest. I enjoyed her humor while sympathizing with her everyday tribulations and the heartbreak of her family interactions. She was self-deprecating which makes you feel a little better about your own foibles. I was in tears at the end of the book with her simple list of "Things I Will Miss" and "Things I Won't Miss" as she was obviously contemplating her death. She led an interesting life and I enjoyed this little glimpse into it.

[Julia]

My review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Patty]

I will be out of town for this discussion which I was looking forward to. I read the book to be discussed, gave it 4 stars and wanted to read another Ephron book, "I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman". She has great titles but I didn't think parts of this book were funny at all. The essay that the book gets its title from is the worst. I gave the book 3 stars.

Ok, as we get older we can see the changes in our appearance and many are laughable but I think Ephron goes a bit overboard and really didn't connect with me on many of the issues she's concerned about. I suppose, if money is not a problem, you can afford to buy many products or services that can help you appear younger or at least make you feel better. It's tempting to exaggerate the length folks will go to to preserve their youth but unfortunately often the tales are true.

There are other points that Ephron makes about life that are the kind of funny where you smile and shake your head and say, "Yep". She is writing a memoir with the sad truth that regardless of success or happiness, life is full of disappointments and mistakes, little ones and big ones. Yet she says, "I can make a case that I regret nothing. After all, most of my mistakes turned out to be things I survived, or turned into funny stories, or, on occasion, even made money from."

We all get old and it's not easy but you deal with it. "We are a generation that has learned to believe we can do something about almost everything......we are in control, on the cutting edge. We make lists. We seek out the options. We surf the net. But there are some things that are absolutely, definitively, entirely uncontrollable." It helps to have a good sense of humor. That's for sure!